Romania’s anti-corruption prosecutors held Bucharest District 1 mayor Andrei Chiliman on Thursday night (June 18), after four hours of questioning in a corruption case.

They charged him with leading an organized crime group and accessory to influence peddling, according to an official DNA statement.

According to the prosecutors, Chiliman and three other associates used their influence to help some companies get public contracts from the District 1 City Hall in exchange for a fee of 10% to 15% of the contract value.

Some 30% of the money went to Chiliman while his three associates got 15% each and 10% went to Chiliman’s party, according to DNA. The remaining 15% would be used to pay off various other people who had to approve the contracts.

Andrei Chiliman and his associates allegedly received some EUR 8.7 million from two companies that got a contract for thermal rehabilitation of blocks in District 1.

Chiliman was apparently denounced by a businessman who had been arrested a few months ago in another corruption case which involved Prime Minister Victor Ponta’s brother-in-law.

The prosecutors and local police searched on June 18 the mayor’s offices at the District 1 City Hall, his house and his associates’ houses. They took Chiliman from the airport, as he was returning from Brussels and went to the DNA local office in Ploiesti where they questioned him before deciding to arrest him.

Andrei Chiliman, who's has been a member of the National Liberal Party (PNL) since 1989, is currently serving his third term as mayor of District 1, Bucharest's richest district. District 1 includes the Baneasa residential and commercial area, the Herastrau park and the Barbu Vacarescu - Pipera business district. Some of Romania's biggest companies, including OMV Petrom, have their headquarters in District 1.

Chiliman manages a budget of EUR 265 million (District 1 projected expenses in 2015), one of the biggest of all public authorities in Ramania.

Chiliman is the second district mayor in Bucharest who has been arrested this year, after Marian Vanghelie, the District 5 mayor, who was also charged for corruption. One of the most powerful mayors in Romania arrested on corruption charges

Former Romanian mayor sentenced to 8 years in prison in illegal land retrocession case

editor@romania-insider.com