Romanian media owners questioned for bank fraud, money laundering

Prosecutors of the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) questioned on Friday, May 15, Romanian media mogul Adrian Sarbu and former liberal senator and media owner Sorin Rosca Stanescu in a case of bank fraud. The two were brought at the DIICOT headquarters, under charges of fraud and money laundering, after they took loans from a BRD banking unit which they didn’t repay. A former BRD vice president, Sorin Popa, allegedly helped them get the loans under favorable terms, as VIP clients, even if they didn’t meet the bank’s conditions to become VIP clients. Adrian Sarbu allegedly produced a damage of USD 4 million, whereas Sorin Rosca Stanescu is responsible for a EUR 3 million damage, according to DIICOT prosecutors. Adrian Sarbu is currently under arrest for tax evasion at his media group Mediafax, while Sorin Rosca Stanescu is in prison, sentenced in the Rompetrol case. Sarbu owns Mediafax, one of the largest media groups in Romania. Other businessmen and politicians got favorable loans from BRD, even if they didn’t meet all the requirements. Former development minister Elena Udrea, currently under house arrest in another case, took a EUR 3 million loan from BRD, in 2007, to buy a plot of land in Bucharest. In September 2010, a young businessman took over Udrea’s loan and the land. DNA is investigating this deal. editor@romania-insider.com