Romanian prosecutors detain judge for EUR 220,000 bribe

Romania’s anticorruption prosecutors yesterday detained judge Geanina Terceanu from the Bucharest Court, who is accused of having received a EUR 220,000 bribe to acquit eight influential investors in football, who were later sentenced to prison. The prosecutors started their case against Terceanu following a denunciation. In April 2012, Terceanu decided to acquit all eight defendants. The anti-corruption prosecutors challenged the decision at the Bucharest Court of Appeal, which in November 2012 sentenced the eight men to prison. The case was further challenged, but in March 2014 all defendants received prison sentences. The eight had been involved in illegal player transfers, as they declared lower transfer fees to pay less taxes. The list includes player agents Ioan and Victor Becali, former footballer Giga Popescu, and club owners George Copos and Cristi Borcea. Some of them, including Copos and Popescu, have already been released from prison, on parole, as they executed a third of their sentences and wrote a few books to get the sentences shortened. The others are still in prison. editor@romania-insider.com