Romania’s former anti-organized crime chief prosecutor sentenced to four years in jail

Former chief prosecutor of Romania’s Directorate for Combatting Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT), Alina Bica, received a final four-year jail sentence, on Wednesday, November 27, for having favored local businessman Ovidiu Tender, Hotnews.ro reported.

Bica, a fugitive from Romania, reportedly living in Costa Rica, will become an internationally wanted person, according to procedures.

The sentence ruled by the first court, challenged by the former DIICOT head, was maintained on November 27.

In the first instance, Bica was also sentenced to 4 years in prison, but the execution of the sentence was suspended following a decision of the Constitutional Court regarding the unlawful composition of the panels of 5 judges from the High Court of Cassation and Justice.

According to the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA), in 2013, Ovidiu Tender asked Bica for support in getting only a suspended sentence in a fraud case related to the privatization of the Rafo refinery. In exchange for material benefits, Bica instructed her subordinates from DIICOT to ask in court for a suspended sentence for tender, according to DNA prosecutors.

(Photo: Pixabay)