Romanian businessman gets 4-year jail sentence in case related to Baneasa farm restitution

The Brasov Court of Appeal ruled a four-year jail sentence for local businessman Remus Truica, the chief of staff of former prime minister Adrian Nastase, for influence peddling in a case related to the illegal restitution of large plots of land in northern Bucharest: the Snagov forest and Baneasa farm.

Paul Phillipe al Romaniei, a grandson of Romania's King Carol II, also received a three-year suspended jail sentence, Hotnews.ro reported.

The damage calculated by the prosecutors from the illegal restitution of the two properties was estimated at EUR 145 million. The court ruled that Truica must return 14.1 hectares and Reciplia (a company controlled and represented by Truica) must return 37 hectares. Paul Phillipe al Romaniei must also return EUR 4 million, representing money that he received for the sale of the illegally retrocessed properties.

Romanian journalist and political consultant Dan Andronic and Israeli businessmen Benyamin "Beny" Steinmetz, Tal Silberstein and Moshe Agavi were acquitted. The decision is not final.

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