The former head of Romania’s tax collection agency (ANAF), Sorin Blejnar, former deputy director Viorel Comăniţă and former deputy commissioner-general of the Financial Guard Sorin Florea, were sent to court by prosecutors of the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) on bribery charges.

They allegedly received EUR 1.2 million, EUR 960,000, and EUR 300,000 respectively, from a local businessman, to offer him protection for illegal activity carried out by a fuel trading company, News.ro reported. In essence, the company had been trading fuels but never paid the excise duties to the state budget.

In a separate lawsuit, in May, the Bucharest Court of Appeal sentenced Blejnar to 5 years in prison (final sentence) for influence peddling.

editor@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/Raul Giuglea)