Almost 200 convicted prisoners who have been serving jail sentences in Romania have written and published books in the last three years (from January 2013 until December 2015). They wrote more than 400 books in total on various topics, mainly to get their jail sentences reduced.

The law in Romania allows prisoners who write scientific papers while in jail get 30 days cut from their sentences. Many white-collar convicts have been using this loophole in the law in the past years and the phenomenon has been highlighted by international publications such as The Economist and The Guardian.

Given the attention this phenomenon has been getting in the past few months, some local publications have asked the Romanian National Administration of Penitentiaries (ANP) for a list of all the convicts who have published books in the last three years.

The list, which has been published by Hotnews.ro, includes 188 authors and more than 400 titles, as there have been some very prolific authors who have written no less than 10 books.

Local businessman and media tycoon Dan Voiculescu is probably the busiest prison writer. He has published no less than 10 books since being incarcerated, in August 2014. Some of his titles are: “Humankind, where to?”, “Sustainable economic development”, “The Romanian Economy”, “The middle class – entrepreneurial theory and practice”, and “The fourth way”, according to the list. Voiculescu is serving a 10-year jail sentence for the fraudulent privatization of the former Institute of Food Research. The ten books allowed him to write off 300 days of his jail time. As he’s over 60, he will also be able to file for probation earlier.

Another prolific author is local businessman Dinel Staicu, a former investment company manager, who has been convicted in two fraud cases. He has written ten books on various financial topics. Seven of his books cover fiscal issues.

George Becali, the financier of Steaua Bucharest – Romania’s top football club, also wrote several books while in jail. One of them is called “Steaua and Becali” while another is called “Merciful and redeeming love”, reflecting his spiritual side. Becali also wrote about his political career and about Mount Athos, one of the holiest places for Christian Orthodox worshipers. Becali was released from prison in April 2015 after serving two years of his jail sentences totaling 3 and a half years, which he got in three separate cases.

The list of prison authors includes the former Cluj-Napoca mayor Sorin Apostu, who has written five books, media mogul Dan Diaconescu, also with five books. Ioan Niculae, also one of Romania’s richest, has also published four books on agriculture and industry.

Former Romanian transport ministers Miron Mitrea and Relu Fenechiu have written two books each. While Mitrea wrote his memoirs and about Romania’s union movement after 1989, whose leader he was, Fenechiu wrote about worship places in Iasi county, where he’s originally from.

Another important group is that of the football experts. Football agents Ioan and Victor Becali, former footballer Gheorghe Popescu, former Dinamo Bucharest shareholder Cristian Borcea, and former Steaua Bucharest manager Mihai Stoica have all written several books about football. Some are theoretical while others look like personal experiences. They were all convicted in 2014 with several others for tax evasion related to illegal player transfers.

editor@romania-insider.com