Former Romanian tax agency head: Govt. asked for checks at Big 4 firms

Gelu Diaconu, a former head of the Romanian tax agency ANAF, said in a Facebook post that persons at the top of the Social Democratic Party/Government asked for checks at the Big 4 firms working in Romania: KMPG, E&Y, PwC and Deloitte. He said that someone at the top of PSD/Government ordered the control in an email sent to ANAF vice president Gelu Stan, which the ANAF official then forwarded to his subordinates. “Although it fakes the dialogue with the fiscal issues work group of the Coalition for Romania’s Development, it stealthily prepares an attack of the fiscal inspection on these companies,” he wrote. When asked about this, PSD leader Liviu Dragnea said he didn't follow all the nonsense on Facebook and asked Diaconu to come up with evidence. On Tuesday morning, Diaconu published the copy of the alleged email on his Facebook page. The email asks the ANAF to analyze the transactions and financials of the four audit firms and start control actions, if needed.

The former ANAF head claims that the control may be a retaliatory measure against the Big 4 companies, which have been vocal in criticizing the fiscal decisions taken by the PSD-ALDE Government, especially the split VAT. He said he informed prime minister Mihai Tudose of this email and said it was up to the PM to reveal who the mail's sender was. The Government has made no comment on Diaconu's statements yet. Diaconu was also the one who revealed that the ANAF ordered an anti-fraud control at local media outlets Rise Project and Hotnews.ro just as they were preparing to publish a journalistic investigation targeting PSD leader Liviu Dragnea, in June this year. Gelu Diaconu served as head of ANAF from April 2013 to February 2016, when he as dismissed by former prime minister Dacian Ciolos after the National Anticorruption Directorate DNA started prosecuting him as a possible accomplice in a EU funds fraud case. Diaconu was appointed as president of ANAF by former Prime Minister Victor Ponta. After he took charge, the tax agency has started an unprecedented campaign against tax evasion, controlling both small and large companies as well as individuals. A tangled fraud case pits Romania’s Government against the Tax Agency’s president; PM fires ANAF head editor@romania-insider.com