Romanian MPs, investors, officials, sent to court in illegal restitution case

Romanian MPs Ioan Oltean and Catalin Teodorescu have been sent to court by the national anti-corruption prosecutors in an illegal restitution case. Crinuta Dumitrean, former president of the National Authority for Property Restitution (ANRP), and Sergiu Diacomatu, former vice-president of the Central Commission for Compensation Assessment within ANRP, and other members of the Compensation Commission have also been indicted, together with local investor Mihai Rotaru and valuator Sergiu Negurici. At the end of 2009, Mihai Rotaru bought the litigation rights for a 6.2-hectare plot located in Pitesti for EUR 750,000. Several months later, the plot was assessed at over EUR 24 million, and ANRP decided to pay Rotaru this sum. According to the prosecutors, Mihai Rotaru allegedly paid Ioan Oltean EUR 600,000 so he would use his influence over ANRP president Crinuta Dumitrean to have the compensation approved. Dumitrean was Oltean’s protégée. The prosecutors found that the plot was ten times overvalued and thus the state took a EUR 22 million damage. The Finance Ministry also started a civil action against Rotaru and the other indictees to recover the damage. editor@romania-insider.com