Radu Mazare, mayor of the Romanian seaside city of Constanta, was detained for 24 hours on Tuesday (April 8) evening after being brought to Bucharest for hearings at the Romanian Anticorruption Directorate DNA.

Prosecutors started a court case against Mazare, who allegedly took a EUR 175,000 bribe from a representative of the company which built a social housing compound in Constanta.

Mazare helped this company land the contract for the project back in 2011, and increase the value of the contract after signing the deal, to some EUR 10 million.

Avraham Morgenstern, the company's representative, is also being investigated for having offered a bribe. He was also arrested for 24 hours. Both him and the mayor will appear in court on Wednesday with a proposal to be arrested for a longer period during the investigation.

Prosecutors started searches at his home and at the Constanta City Hall on Tuesday morning (April 8). The National Anticorruption Directorate DNA has been asking for various documents issued by the Constanta City Hall in previous weeks.

Prosecutors took Mazare for questioning from a Bucharest restaurant, as the Constanta mayor was in the capital to attend an event.

The mayor himself recently said prosecutors are after him, and that an attempt on his life was under preparation. Mazare, who is a member of the Social Democrat Party PSD – one of the ruling parties in Romania – and party colleague with PM Victor Ponta, said several rich entrepreneurs with activities in the Constanta harbor have been preparing to assassinate him.

This comes just before Mazare and his family were getting ready to leave for Madagascar to spend their Easter holiday.

The Constanta Mayor is known for his eccentric costumes, for the carnivals he organizes every summer weekend in the seaside resort of Mamaia, using the Brazilian carnival model. He is also known for his choice of peculiar clothes, for his love of extreme sports, as well as for his passion for exotic countries like Brazil.

editor@romania-insider.com