A prosecutor of the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) asked yesterday the judges of the Bucharest Court of Appeal to sentence Neculai Ontanu, the former mayor of Bucharest’s District 2, to ten years in prison, the maximum sentence for bribery.

While in office, Ontanu received a plot worth over EUR 1.4 million as bribe in exchange for reconstructing a property right over several pieces of land covering 83,500 sqm, according to DNA. The plot was transferred to Ontanu via fictitious sales contracts closed through intermediaries.

The DNA prosecutor also asked yesterday in court for maximum sentences for Ontanu’s lawyer Loredana Radu, accused of complicity in bribery and money laundering, Toma Sutru, former secretary of the District 2’s local council, charged with bribery and money laundering, and Aurel Radu, charged for complicity in bribery and money laundering.

The National Anticorruption Directorate sent Ontanu to court in June 2016.

editor@romania-insider.com