Romanian MPs stopped at border with Moldova after reportedly arriving in stolen car

Two members of the Romanian Parliament were stopped at the Sculeni border crossing between Romania and the Republic of Moldova after they arrived in a stolen car. The individuals are the former minister of labor, Marius Budăi, and PSD deputy Dan Constantin Șlincu. The car, registered in the latter's name, had been reported stolen by Belgian authorities since 2016.

Şlincu says his car was bought in 2015 from a man in Galaţi county and had its second registration in Romania. He also mentioned that he has left Romania every year in this car, but never had problems at the border, noting that this was his first trip to the Republic of Moldova in it. “There were no problems when leaving the country on Friday. On the return, Saturday, December 16, my car was retained. This car was bought in 2015 and registered in Romania. I bought it from someone in Galaţi, from an advertisement on a car sales website. I registered it in my name and everything was in order,” Dan Şlincu said, cited by Digi24.

Şlincu intends to take action against the person who sold him the car. Marius Budăi, the former minister of labor, says he was a passenger in the car, but that his colleague’s documents are in order. “It's a very serious issue and I will have a very serious discussion with experts from the Ministry of the Interior, because it seems very serious that for eight years this car was reported stolen and the owner, who bought it in good faith, was not informed,” he said.

“I thought it was a joke. Honestly, I thought it was a joke, because it never crossed my mind. My colleague initially laughed, then, of course, the customs and border police officers came, informed us of the situation, and we asked if procedurally we could hand over the car in Botoșani, to continue our journey. We were informed that we couldn’t,” he added.

The car, an Audi A6, was registered in 2015 in the name of the parliamentarian Dan Constantin Şlincu and was reported stolen by Belgian police a year later. Last night, the two politicians also presented their diplomatic passports, but the Border Police decided to stop the car for further checks.

(Photo source: Inquam Photos | Ilona Andrei)