Former Romanian finance minister says he was tricked by prosecutors

Former Romanian finance minister Darius Valcov accused the anticorruption prosecutors of deceit saying they promised him an easy sentence if he admitted to committing influence peddling after which they came up with new charges against him. At a High Court hearing, Valcov said that the prosecutors gave him two options: to admit his guilt for the influence peddling changes and get a 3-year suspended jail sentence or to be charged with money laundering, in which case the prosecutors would have also continued the searches at his sister’s home in Switzerland, reports local Agerpres. The former minister said that the National Anticorruption Directorate’s chief prosecutor assured him that the deal was agreed. However, he said he was tricked because the prosecutors also started to investigate him for money laundering. Darius Valcov, a former finance minister in the Victor Ponta cabinet, was held in April 2015 on influence peddling charges. The prosecutors found tens of valuable paintings during the investigation, which Valcov kept at his friends and relatives. They believed the paintings may have been purchased with money received from corruption deeds. Former Romanian FinMin charged in new bribery case editor@romania-insider.com