Former Eximbank head, finance minister freed in Romania under extraordinary prescription procedure

Ionuț Costea, former head of EximBank, and Sebastian Vlădescu, former finance minister, were released on November 5 following an extraordinary prescription procedure, according to a statement from Romania's High Court of Cassation and Justice (ICCJ). The two had been sentenced in 2023 to six and seven years in prison, respectively, for taking a EUR 5.5 million bribe from a foreign company involved in rehabilitating the Bucharest–Constanţa railway.

The decision was made by the High Court, led by Lia Savonea, based on the Constitutional Court ruling no. 50/2025, which allowed the extraordinary appeal that led to the annulment of their convictions, G4media.ro reported.

Costea, the brother-in-law of former NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoană, had been placed on an international wanted list after failing to appear to serve his sentence. He was located in Turkey in early 2024, extradited to Romania in June 2025, and subsequently imprisoned.

According to the ICCJ's ruling, the two must still pay financial damages. Costea owes RON 3.1 million (EUR 600,000) and EUR 1.9 million, while Vlădescu must pay RON 4 million (EUR 800,000) and EUR 65,000, and faces the confiscation of a further EUR 2.18 million.

The National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) initially charged the two in 2018, alleging they received bribes totalling EUR 5.5 million from a foreign contractor in connection with railway modernisation works between Bucharest and Constanţa. Their release effectively ends one of Romania's most high-profile corruption cases in the transport sector.

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