Prosecutors asks for the control of former Romanian President’s wealth

The money laundering case against former Romanian President Traian Basescu was closed as the prosecutors have found no evidence that Basescu got any money resulted from crimes, official sources told local Mediafax. However, the prosecutors decided to continue investigating the former President for false statements, and asked the National Integrity Agency (ANI) to look into Basescu’s wealth as he may have not declared all of his assets in his wealth statements. On May 2016, Romania’s General Prosecutor officially announced that Traian Basescu was being investigated for money laundering, which may have been committed between October 2000 and May 2005 through the successive conclusion of several contracts for the sale of real estate assets. The case had been opened years earlier following two complaints, one of the National Office for Preventing and Combating Money Laundering and another complaint of the Group of Political Investigations. The case was closed in 2012, as prosecutors decided not to start the prosecution. In May 2015, after Basescu ended his presidential mandates, the solution was invalidated by the Bucharest Court and the case was reopened. In July 2015, prosecutors began the prosecution. editor@romania-insider.com