Romania's National Anticorruption Department (DNA) charged Valeriu Zgonea, the former president of the Chamber of Deputies, with influence peddling and placed him under judicial control for 60 days.

Zgonea, who used to be one of the most influential leaders of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) in the period when former Prime Minister Victor Ponta was head of the party, was questioned at the DNA office in Ploiesti, Prahova county, on Wednesday.

He left DNA Ploiesti after nearly three hours, saying that his questioning was part of an “early investigation,” without giving further details.

According to a DNA press release, Zgonea was charged with influence peddling and placed under judicial control, which means that he can't leave the country or get in contact with other people involved in this case.

Valeriu Zgonea allegedly took RON 52,000 (EUR 11,600) from a local businessman to use his influence and help a businessman’s daughter be named undersecretary at the Communications Ministry, in 2013. The businessman didn't give Zgonea the money in cash but paid for a four-day holiday the politician had in Vienna, in May 2013, and covered some of the bills for the construction of Zgocea's holiday villa in Covasna, according to the prosecutors.

Zgonea was the president of Romania’s Chamber of Deputies from July 2012 until June 2016. In October 2015, he was elected executive president of the Social Democratic Party. However, six months later, he was excluded from PSD after criticizing Liviu Dragnea’s decision to remain PSD's president despite a criminal conviction. Dragnea was sentenced to two years probation for electoral fraud, in April 2016.

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