The DNA tests confirmed that the driver who died in a highly publicized car crash near Bucharest, on Sunday, May 22, was indeed Dan Condrea, the owner of Hexi Pharma – a local company investigated for selling diluted disinfectants to public hospitals.

The General Prosecutor’s Office, which has been investigating the Hexi Pharma diluted disinfectants case and Condrea's death, announced the DNA test results on Tuesday, May 31.

“The traces of reddish brown color and tissue discovered on the car following onsite researches present a genetic profile identical to the biological samples taken from the body,” reads the statement.

The Hexi Pharma owner was believed to be the driver who smashed his car into a tree on the evening of May 22. The accident occurred on a local road between Buftea and Corbeanca, north of Bucharest, and it was so violent that the driver couldn’t be identified due to very severe injuries. The investigators assumed it was Dan Condrea as they found his ID documents next to the destroyed car. Moreover, Condrea’s wife, who was called to the accident site, recognized his clothes. She also identified him the next day, at the morgue, according to media reports.

The General Prosecutor’s Office revealed in the statement that the car “was caught by a street surveillance camera in Buftea while making several trips between Buftea and Corbeanca.” The car made a total of 13 trips between the two villages that evening, between 17:31 and 18:38, with the last ride from Buftea to Corbeanca.

Dan Condrea was buried on Wednesday, May 26, in a Bucharest cemetery, before the DNA test results were announced.

His death occurred in the middle of a massive scandal in Romania’s healthcare sector, which involved his company Hexi Pharma, and this has raised many questions. While some said that this was just a car accident, others believed that Condrea committed suicide or was killed by people who wanted him silenced.

Meanwhile, the local authorities continued their investigation in this case and made the first arrest on May 27. The prosecutors decided to hold Flori Dinu, Hexi Pharma's general manager of Hexi Pharma and Condrea's main collaborator. She was later placed under house arrest.

Insights into a corrupt system: New allegations in diluted disinfectant scandal in Romania

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com