Another Romanian party leader investigated for influence peddling

Romania's National Anticorruption Department (DNA) has started the criminal prosecution of Vasile Blaga, the co-president of the National Liberal Party (PNL), for influence peddling. Blaga was questioned by DNA Ploiesti prosecutors as a suspect on Wednesday morning, September 28. The politician was placed under judicial control for 60 days in this case. He will also resign from PNL’s helm, according to a statement from the party. Gheorghe Stefan, the former mayor of Piatra Neamt, and businessman Horatiu Bruna Berdila are also investigated for influence peddling. In 2009, there was an “obvious agreement” between people with leadership positions in the ruling party at that time, namely general secretary Vasile Blaga and party vice-president Gheorghe Stefan, to obtain money for the party, according to DNA. “According to the agreement, with the help of ministers appointed politically, this would have been done by naming certain people to lead national companies and public institutions subordinated to these ministries, who would award public contracts to private companies willing to “pay contributions” to the political party to which the two belonged,” reads the DNA statement. Thus, Gheorghe Stefan allegedly used the influence he had as party vice-president to convince people with decision-making power in the ministries to appoint a certain person in the management of a national energy company. “This individual had been approved by suspects Gheorghe Stefan and Vasile Blaga, and was willing to contribute, indirectly, to the financing of the party by awarding public procurement contracts to various companies.” In 2001-2012, Stefan informed Blaga about the ways through which, with the help of the director of a national energy company, they were planning to obtain money for the party. Through rigged auctions, the company of businessman Horatiu Bruna Berdila concluded contracts with the energy company, and some of the money he got from those contracts he transferred to the party. The money represented a predetermined percentage of the contracts' value. Gheorghe Stefan apparently promised the national energy company’s director that he would remain in this position as long as he awarded a series of contracts to the company represented by Horatiu Bruna Berdila. In parallel, Stefan promised Berdila that he would intervene to the energy company director so that he would win the public auctions organized by this firm. In return, he asked and received 10-25% of the awarded contracts’ value, the total sum amounting to some RON 25 million (EUR 5.6 million). Vasile Blaga allegedly received the total amount of EUR 200,000 between 2011 and 2012, through an intermediary. He had also received EUR 500,000 from Gheorghe Stefan, according to prosecutors. Gheorghe Stefan has also been involved in several other corruption cases, the best-known of which is the Microsoft file