Constanta Court sentenced Mircea Basescu, the brother of Romania’s former President Traian Basescu, to 4 years in prison, no parole, for influence peddling. The sentence is not final, however, and can be appealed at the Court of Appeal in 10 days.

Mircea Basescu said he was surprised by the court’s decision to send him to prison and he would file an appeal, reports local Agerpres.

In the same case, Basescu’s accomplice Marian Capatana also got a 3-year sentence for complicity to influence trading.

The court also decided to confiscate EUR 265,000 from the two defendants, and keep the seizure imposed on their tangible and intangible assets.

Mircea Basescu and Marian Capatana were placed under preventive on June 20, 2014. In November the same year, the local authorities decided to change the preventive arrest measure with home arrest.

The two were investigated in a case which targeted the EUR 250,000 bribe Mircea Basescu allegedly received to help local underworld leader Sandu Anghel, also known as Bercea Mondial (Bercea the Global), out of a criminal conviction. According to the prosecutors, Marian Capatana intermediated the transaction.

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