George Ivanescu, also known as the “Wine King,” as he is one of the shareholders of one of the biggest Romanian wine producers - Murfatlar, was detained for 24 hours on tax evasion charges.

Nine other people were arrested in this case in which the damage is estimated at over EUR 130 million. Three directors within the tax agency ANAF, the National Customs Authority, and the Ministry of Finance, are among the detained suspects, all of them accused of abuse of office.

The prosecutors from the National Anticcoruption Department arrested Catalin Bucura, George Ivanescu, Gheorghe Zlotea, and Constantin Carciumaru for 24 hours, all of them being associates in companies that manufacture and sell alcoholic beverages. All of them are charged with tax evasion.

Other people detained in this case are Gheorghe Cosmin Popescu – the special administrator of one of the companies involved in this case, Catalin Florian Vasilescu – the manager of two companies, and Sorin Vasile Savoiu - general manager of a company with activities in growing grapes. They are also charged with tax evasion or complicity to tax evasion.

Between 2010 and 2014, four companies owned or controlled by George Ivanescu, Catalin Bucura, Gheorghe Zlotea, and other people caused a damage of more than EUR 130 million to the state budget by avoiding paying taxes to the state, according to a statement from the National Anticorruption Department (DNA).

The defendants, including the companies’ managers, were helped in this criminal activity by the three state officials, namely George Lascu – director within the Ministry of Finance, Irina Tanase – chief within the Customs Authority, and Ioana Toma – head within ANAF.

Although the companies included in this case were registering debts to the state every month, the public officials didn’t take the necessary measures to suspend their authorizations, according to DNA. Moreover, the companies were registering fictitious operations, so that the deductible VAT would increase.

For example, one of the wine producers registered advance invoices from its suppliers totalling some EUR 400 million between September 2012 and June 2014, plus VAT of EUR 86 million.

Prosecutors say that the amount of EUR 400 million is so big that it could be compared to the installments that Romania had paid to the IMF between 2012 and 2015, or with the loan Romania had taken from the Bank for Reconstruction and Development in 2011.

Nine of the ten defendants, including Murfatlar shareholder George Ivanescu, could be placed under preventive arrest if the court will approve the prosecutors’ request.

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