Romanian businessman George Copos was released from prison, on parole, after he spent the last 400 days in detention. The Bucharest Court issued the decision on Tuesday, April 7. The decision is final.

“It was an incredibly hard experience, a nightmare. However, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” said Copos when he got out. “I must say that over these 400 days and nights in detention I have read more than in my entire life.” He added he was first going to get a health exam.

Copos also said that he was worried about the campaign on Romanian capital. “Business people who invested hundreds of millions of euros in Romania are in jail, which is unfair,” Copos said.

Copos is the second millionaire to get out of jail on parole after Gigi Becali managed to convince the court to release him a few days ago. In the meantime, billionaire Ioan Niculae, Romania's richest, went to jail last week.

George Copos, who was incarcerated at the beginning of March 2014, did a little more than a quarter of his four-year jail sentence. He managed to get his detention shortened by writing no less than five books about history and tourism, by working in the carpentry workshop and by engaging in all the activities organized by the Rahova Penitentiary.

According to Romanian regulations, two days spent by inmates working on scientific works or patented inventions reduce the detention period by three days. Copos thus had about 200 days wiped of his dour year sentence. Inmates over 60 can request to be released on parole after executing a third of their sentence.

The Rahova prison’s parole committee approved in January Copos’ parole application, but a courthouse in Bucharest’s District 5 denied the millionaire’s request to be released at the end of February. The judge motivated his decision saying that Copos did not prove that he tried to change and that he wrote all those books only to get his sentence shortened, according to Mediafax.

The Bucharest Court overruled the decision on April 7, allowing George Copos to go home.

Copos went to jail on March 7, 2014, after a Romanian court sentenced him to three years and eight months in jail for tax evasion and money laundry related to international football player transfers he did while he owned the Rapid Bucharest football club. Several other football club owners also got prison sentences.

The businessman got a second jail sentence in August 2014 for tax evasion in a real estate transaction he did with the public lottery. The damage in this case, which was called Loteria 1, was estimated at some EUR 1 million. By Romanian law, when a person gets two jail sentences, he serves the longer of the two, so Copos’ initial sentence was increased to four years.

Copos was indicted in another case, Loteria 2, on charges of stock market manipulation, use of privileged information and money laundry. The next term in this case is April 10.

George Copos, 62, is one of Romania’s richest. He and his family own the Ana Hotels group, which includes the Athenee Palace Hilton five-star hotel and Crowne Plaza four-star hotel in Bucharest, the Europa hotel in Eforie Nord and a couple of hotels in Poiana Brasov ski resort. Copos also controls pastry producer Ana Pan, electric motors producer Ana Imep, and several real estate assets.

His daughter, Alexandra Copos, has been managing the family’s businesses in the past year.

editor@romania-insider.com