Romanian media owner Sorin Ovidiu Vantu (in picture) was arrested for 29 days, after being initially set to be detained for only 24 hours on Thursady, being accused in the case of Nicolae Popa, former head of bankrupt FNI's brokerage firm, who has fled the country. The trial where his 29-day arrest was decided was held late at night on Thursday.

Romanian prosecutors searched 10 locations on Thursday, looking for evidence related to how Nicolae Popa left the country. Vantu and Liviu Luca, the head of Petrom's Employees' Union have been among those whose places were searched.

Popa was convicted to 15 years of prison in 2005 in the Gelsor – FNI bankruptcy case. He currently lives in Indonesia and Romania authorities have asked for his extradition. Ioana Maria Vlas, former administrator of SOV Invest, the company which used to manage FNI, was also charged and imprisoned for ten years in the same file. Gelsor was a financial group which used to run transactions with FNI fund units.

FNI (Fondul National de Investitii) was a pyramidal (Ponzi) scheme in the late 1990s. The investment fund went bankrupt in 2000, when thousands of people lost their savings deposited in the fund.  FNI is a project started out by Sorin Ovidiu Vantu.

Romanian prosecutors Thursday detained businessman Sorin Ovidiu Vantu after information provided by authorities in Cyprus and Indonesia last week showed Vantu was transferring money to fraud-convict Nicolae Popa, who fled the country after being sentenced to 15 years in prison, according to Mediafax newswire.

Evidence shows money transfers were made with the help of two intermediaries, Vantu's driver Alex Stoian, who was also detained for 24 hours, and Octavian Turcan. Romanian authorities had asked Cypriot and Indonesian authorities to hear several people and get information regarding bank transactions relevant to the case, according to the newswire.

Romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Agerpres)