Former Bucharest District 5 mayor Marian Vanghelie, 30 others sent to trial for corruption

The former mayor of Bucharest's District 5, Marian Vanghelie, was sent to trial by anticorruption (DNA) prosecutors along with 30 others, natural and legal persons, in a case regarding public procurement of goods at overpriced rates by the city-run Economat stores, according to a press release dated Monday, May 11.

Prosecutors say that the stores, set up by the District 5 City Hall with the stated purpose of selling cheaper products to people, caused RON 120 million (EUR 23 million) in damages to the public budget after the goods were purchased at inflated prices.

In a public statement, the Anticorruption Directorate said that defendants formed an organized criminal group and committed abuse of office with particularly serious consequences, in a continued form, 26 times. The network would have the city-run stores purchase goods at overpriced prices and under illegal conditions from companies controlled by members of the group.

The criminal group allegedly operated during 2018–2020, having a well-defined hierarchical structure, at the top of which was Marian Vanghelie, then a local councilor, followed by Petre Marian Leonard, the general director of Economat District 5, and V.P.

“At the end of 2018, defendants Vanghelie Marian Daniel, Petre Marian Leonard, and V.P. allegedly formed an organized criminal group, to which other persons later joined, respectively administrators of commercial companies, to obtain undue benefits by damaging the budget of S.C. Economat District 5 S.R.L., a company whose sole shareholder was the District 5 Local Council,” prosecutors said.

In December 2024, DNA sent Marian Vanghelie and Marian Petre to trial in a separate case, arguing that they, along with others, defrauded the Economat stores and caused damage worth hundreds of millions of lei.

(Photo source: Inquam Photos|Octav Ganea)