Justice and politics in Romania: Ten powerful mayors in trouble with the law
Romania prepares for the local elections on June 5, but the country's biggest political parties have serious troubles in finding candidates for the local administration positions, as many of city mayors and county council presidents elected four years ago have been compromised by corruption charges.
The National Anticorruption Directorate - DNA's unprecedented campaign against top- and medium level corruption in Romania has decimated the so-called local barons in Romania. More than 100 mayors, deputy mayors, county council presidents and vice presidents have been sent to court for corruption only in 2015, according to DNA's annual activity report.
The prosecutors have uncovered EUR 431 million worth of bribes in the corruption cases that they sent to court in 2015, an amount comparable to the co-financing needed for Romania’s highway construction program for the next three years (2016-2018).
Here is a list of ten powerful mayors investigated and even indicted for corruption in the past years. Most of them have also spent at least 24 hours in arrest during the investigations.
Five of the seven mayors in Bucharest have been investigated by DNA prosecutors in the past years:
Sorin Oprescu was mayor of Bucharest from June 2008 until September 2015 when he started having problems with the authorities. He was arrested in early-September 2015 on bribery charges. The DNA accused him of being part of a very well organized group within the public administration that asked companies to pay bribes to get public contracts from various authorities subordinated to Bucharest’s City Hall. The group functioned between 2013 and 2015.
Soon after the news of his arrest was made public, King Michael of Romania also decided to withdraw Oprescu’s Order of the Crown membership, in the rank of Officer.
In late-October, the prosecutors extended the charges against former Bucharest mayor Sorin Oprescu, adding money laundering, abuse of power and establishing an organized crime group to the list. At the end of the same month, the court placed Oprescu under house arrest. In January this year, the house arrest measure was replaced with judicial control.
Oprescu’s trial started on November 23, 2015, and is still ongoing at the Bucharest Court.
Bucharest District 1 mayor Andrei Chiliman was arrested in June last year, being charged with leading an organized crime group and accessory to influence peddling. He was then placed under judicial control.
Prosecutors seize EUR 670 mln goods from Bucharest District 1 mayor.
In October the same year, prosecutors from the Prosecution’s Office attached to the District 1 Court sent Chiliman to court for abuse of office. The case targets an operating license for a terrace, illegally issued by the mayor.
In December 2015, DNA announced that Andrei Chiliman was being investigated in a new case, for abuse of office and complicity to destruction. He allegedly helped a person destroy annexes of the Stribei Palace in Bucharest, by signing the authorization for the buildings’ demolition. The action endangered the historical monument.
Bucharest District 2 mayor Neculai Ontanu was placed under preventive arrest (30 days) in late-March this year, on bribery charges. According to DNA, between 2006 and 2007, Ontanu allegedly received a 1,500 sqm land plot, to help a litigious rights owner get into possession of several land plots totaling 8.35 hectares. The plots were located on Barbu Vacarescu boulevard in District 2, run by mayor Ontanu. Read more about it here.
Neculai Ontanu has been the mayor of Bucharest’s District 2 since 2000.
Cristian Popescu Piedone was the mayor of Bucharest’s District 4 between 2008 and November 4, 2015, when he resigned following the Colectiv club fire and the street protests. He was one of the people found responsible for allowing Colectiv owners run their club without fulfilling some essential safety conditions. The club went on fire on the night of October 30 during a rock concert, which led to 64 dead and many more injured.
Piedone was arrested on November 7 for abuse of office, and released on November 11, following a ruling by the Bucharest Court of Appeal. In mid-December, DNA prosecutors decided to place him under judicial control on bail for 60 days. The bail was set at RON 1.5 million (some EUR 330,000). In January this year, Piedone was taken out from under judicial control, following a final decision of the Bucharest Court.
Marian Vanghelie is another one of Bucharest’s mayors who got into trouble with the prosecutors. He was arrested last March for corruption, and was only released under house arrest in July the same year. On July 8, the anticorruption prosecutors sent Vanghelie to court, charging him with nine counts of abuse of office, nine counts of bribery and seven offenses of money laundering.
In mid-December, the Bucharest Court of Appeal admitted Vanghelie’s request and replaced the house arrest with judicial control. However, he can’t exercise the position of mayor while still under judicial control.
Marian Vanghelie has been the mayor of Bucharest’s District 5 since 2000. He was popular in Romania for his New Year’s Eve parties organized at Romexpo, which featured international artists, and for the large public picnics he organized in Bucharest’s parks. He is also known for his sometimes poor use of Romanian language. Vanghelie amight again run for mayor at the local elections to be organised on June 5.
Five other big city mayors charged with corruption:
Radu Mazare, the famous mayor of Constanta seaside resort, was the subject of several criminal investigations conducted by the DNA. On March 17 last year, he was arrested for bribery, abuse of office and conflict of interest. However, on March 18, the High Court decided to reject DNA’s request to arrest him for 30 days, and let him go free.
Mazare was again arrested in early April, and released under judicial control in June. Meanwhile, he decided to resign from the position of mayor of Constanta, on May 22, citing the unbearable stress caused by the “politically motivated investigations.”
Radu Mazare has been mayor of Constanta for almost 15 years. He was first elected in 2000 and then got reelected three times with a large majority of the votes. He has become famous for his eccentric costumes, and for the carnivals he organizes every summer weekend in the seaside resort of Mamaia, using the Brazilian carnival model.
Lia Olguta Vasilescu is one of the most powerful women in Romanian politics. She is the mayor of Craiova and a vice president of the Social Democratic Party. DNA prosecutors arrested her on March 30 this year for bribery, influence peddling, and money laundering, the charges being related to her local elections campaign in 2012. She was placed under house arrest on March 31 following a ruling by the Bucharest Court, but also escaped the house arrest on April 6, after a Bucharest Court of Appeal decision. She recently announced her plans to run for a new term as mayor of Craiova.
Iasi mayor Gheorghe Nichita was arrested in May last year for using the local police to spy on his sweetheart. He was later placed under judicial control. Nichita was again arrested in October, in a new case that involved public contracts granted to companies owned by local businessman Tiberiu Urdareanu, president of the UTI group. The prosecutors sent both of them to court in this case in mid-December.
The mayor of Bacau, Romeo Stavarache, was arrested in June 2014 on bribery charges. He spent two months in police custody and another five months in house arrest, after which he was released and returned to his office. Early this year he was again placed under house arrest for breaking the judicial control terms, which forbid him from contacting other people involved in his case.
George Scripcaru, the mayor of Brasov, was also held by the DNA prosecutors in June 2015. He was charged with bribery and abuse of office, and the court placed him under judicial control. In February 2016, his case was sent to court.
Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com
