Head of Neamt County Council held for influence peddling

Former Romanian MP Ionel Arsene, the president of the Neamt County Council and the head of the Social Democratic Party’s Neamt organization, was held on Thursday by the anticorruption prosecutors on influence peddling charges. Arsene is a loyal supporter of PSD leader Liviu Dragnea and had an important role in removing former prime minister Mihai Tudose from the helm of the Government. He stands accused for allegedly taking EUR 100,000 for influencing persons from the management of the National Integrity Agency (ANI) into filing conflict of interests and incompatibility charges against a local administration official. This happened in 2013 when Arsene was a deputy in Romania’s Parliament. The money exchange allegedly took place in a Bucharest restaurant. The person who paid him the EUR 100,000 turned witness in this case. The prosecutors have asked for a 30-day arrest warrant on Arsene’s name. editor@romania-insider.com