Romania’s anticorruption prosecutors have started a new case against former Interior Minister Gabriel Oprea on new abuse of office accusations.

According to the prosecutors, Oprea used public money to buy an Audi A8 limousine which only he used between August and October 2015. He thus damaged the state budget by some RON 410,000 (EUR 91,000).

The car was bought by the Interior Ministry’s secret service (the Information and Interna Protection Department – DIPI) after Oprea approved the allocation of more funds to this department.

The legal provisions were broken in this care because DIPI’s funds could only be used for criminal investigation in corruption cases within the Interior Ministry, according to the National Anticorruption Directorate - DNA’s spokesperson Lidia Saplacan.

DNA’s prosecutors also said Oprea that had ordered new couches and a hot tub for his office at the Interior Ministry, according to Digi 24 news station.

Gabriel Oprea denied DNA’s new charges.

DNA has also been investigating Gabriel Oprea on two other counts of abuse of office because he used the police escort 1,600 times in just ten months while he was in office and he also granted police escort for Romania’s former General Prosecutor Tiberiu Nitu.

Oprea’s mandate ended in November 2015 after street protests determined Prime Minister Victor Ponta to announce his Government’s resignation. Tiberiu Nitu also resigned at the beginning of February after DNA started an investigation on him.

editor@romania-insider.com