Western Romania: former Timiș prefect detained by EPPO for allegedly defrauding EU funds
Former Timiș prefect Cornelia Elena Micicoi, who resigned from office following a scandal involving European funds, was detained for 24 hours by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office on Thursday, September 17.
Radu Dumitrescu · Journalist
· 1 min read
Prosecutors from the body headed by famed Romanian prosecutor Codruța Kovesi picked up the former prefect and took her into custody.
Five other people suspected of fraud involving EU funds have also been taken in by prosecutors in this case, according to DeBanat.ro.
The scandal began on June 12, when prosecutors and police officers conducted searches at Micicoi’s home.
The investigation looked into the use of European funds to organize training courses for disadvantaged people. Specifically, police analyzed a project carried out through the local action group Freidorf, in which the association headed by the prefect at the time was involved.
According to judicial sources, the damages caused are in the hundreds of thousands of euros.
Micicoi claimed that she had no capacity in the case and that she was innocent of any wrongdoing.
“These are procedural checks, in a case in which I do not even have the status of witness, I have not been summoned, and no accusations have been brought to my attention by the investigative authorities. There was no premise for me to possess or fail to provide documents necessary for the investigation,” Micicoi said on June 12.
That same day, under public and party pressure, she decided to resign from the position of prefect, to which she had been appointed by the center-right Save Romania Union, or USR, in October of 2025. The party is well-known for its hardline anti-corruption stance.
