Romanian authorities reportedly detain owner of illegal care homes along with family
Romanian prosecutors reportedly detained Viorel Paşca, the man from Bihor County who allegedly exploited hundreds of vulnerable people under the cover of a humanitarian association, on Wednesday, July 1. Also detained were his wife, his three children, and Delia Păcală, the coordinator of the illegal care homes, as part of the same case, according to G4Media.
Paşca, 55, was at DIICOT’s central headquarters for hearings after prosecutors officially confirmed his status as a suspect in the case.
A day before, prosecutors and police officers carried out 27 searches at the homes of individuals and at the headquarters of companies and a public institution in Bihor County. The searches targeted not only the homes of the Pașca family members, but also the headquarters of the Holod Town Hall, an institution suspected of having facilitated or ignored the illegal activities of the group.
According to investigators, the network was formally established in 2020, but Viorel Pașca had been operating in the field for more than two decades.
Pașca’s network reportedly recruited, received, and housed hundreds of persons in a clearly vulnerable state, persons with mental disabilities, who could not defend themselves and could not express their will. Those who arrived in Pașca’s illegal care homes came from all corners of the country, allegedly sent by town halls, social assistance directorates, and hospitals.
In total, over 2,200 vulnerable persons passed through centers controlled by the group in the last 6 years. Around 401 died, and over 400 were found during the searches. Around 200 of those found had disabilities.
According to the same source, throughout the entire period, the victims were kept in a state of dependency and subjugation, without being provided the minimum conditions necessary to protect their health, dignity, and physical and mental integrity, as they did not receive constant and adequate care according to their medical condition and psychiatric diagnosis. Those who died were allegedly buried next to the cemetery without religious services to hide the mortality rate of the care homes, the prosecutors claimed.
The same source said that Paşca, the leader of the network, obtained huge sums of money from donations, sponsorships, contributions, pensions, disability allowances, funeral aid, and other social benefits.
On the other side, Viorel Paşca claimed his innocence and said that the situation of the houses in which he accommodated hundreds of elderly and sick people had been known for approximately 20 years by all Romanian state authorities. Meanwhile, according to Euronews Romania, several supporters gathered at the care home run by Pașca in the town of Dumbrava on Wednesday.
According to the defense lawyers, the accusations are that Paşca and his wife and children formed an organized criminal group that dealt in human trafficking. The family categorically rejected the charges and said that no action was taken to bring the unauthorized care homes into legal operation.
Romanian authorities said that the 409 people found in the illegal care homes were safely relocated across Romania.
Paşca came to the attention of authorities last summer, after an inspection by the Ministry of Labour, following which it was found that hundreds of disabled persons were improperly housed in his homes. The minister at the time, Florin Manole, considered the situation “unacceptable” and stated that it “will cease, and those who did wrong will be held accountable.”
Viorel Paşca does not have accreditation or a license for social service activities in the buildings where he accommodated these people, according to the Ministry of Labour. Simona Bucura-Oprescu, former minister of labour, Alexandru Rafila, former minister of health, and Cătălin Predoiu, minister of internal affairs, also reportedly knew about the problems at the illegal care homes.
On Tuesday, June 30, after the story broke about the illegal care homes, interim prime minister Ilie Bolojan said he approved assistance to Romania’s emergency services and the Ministry of Labor to relocate the people found in Paşca’s homes.
(Photo source: Diicot.ro)
