The president of the environmentalist Romanian Ecologist Party (PER), Dănuț Pop, was recently detained by the anticorruption directorate DNA for influence peddling.

Influence peddling or trafficking occurs when a person in a decision-making position of public office is promised a benefit or a payment in return for a certain decision. Pop allegedly received EUR 10,000 in exchange for convincing a member of Parliament to hire a third party as a counselor. The sum was given to Pop in installments over several months.

"The prosecutors of the National Anticorruption Directorate - Anti-corruption Section initiated criminal proceedings and ordered the detaining for 24 hours, starting on November 9, 2022, of a defendant, president of a political party, who was charged with the crime of influence peddling,” reads the DNA press release cited by Biziday.

The member of Parliament whom Pop had allegedly asked for the favor is PSD deputy Radu Cristescu.

“I needed a parliamentary adviser. Pop said he would recommend someone. He recommended, as friends do, a lady whom I saw and hired in January. She didn’t get used to the work, did not integrate [in the team], and resigned after a month,” Cristescu told G4Media. “It was a recommendation from a friend. I don't remember the first name anymore, but the last name was Greek, Papadopulos,” he added.

The Romanian Ecologist Party (PER) was founded in 1990, and Dănuț Pop has been its leader since 2007. The party never managed to make it past the 5% threshold in order to be represented in the legislative. During the 2020 parliamentary elections, PER received a little over 1% of the votes.

radu@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea)