Ten former Romanian ministers got convictions for criminal offenses. For eight of them the court sentences are final, reports local Mediafax.

The High Court of Cassation and Justice recently sentenced former Romanian Economy Minister Codrut Seres to four years and eight months in prison. The court gave this final sentence for economic espionage. In March last year, Seres also got four years in jail in another case related to Romanian electricity producer Hidroelectrica. The decision is not final.

Zsolt Nagy, former Communications Minister, also got four years in jail, no probation, in the same case of economic espionage. Last year, he received another jail conviction, but with parole, in a case related to the transfer of a land plot in Bucharest, which was owned by the Romanian Post, to a private company. Former Minister of Justice Tudor Chiuariu also got three years and six months in jail in this case, with parole.

Former Communications Minister Sorin Pantis was also convicted in two separate cases. In August last year, the court sentenced Pantis to seven years in jail in the privatization of the Institute of Food Research. The Bucharest Appeal Court also sentenced him to two years and eight months in prison in the Rompetrol case. Both sentences were final.

Former Agriculture Minister Ioan Avram Muresan is another top politician sentenced to jail. In 2012, the court sentenced him to seven years in prison, no parole, for embezzlement. One year later, he got another sentence of three years in jail for trading influence. Decebal Traian Remes, also a former Agriculture Minister, also serves jail in this case.

In 2014, former Transport Minister Relu Fenechiu received a sentence of five years in jail, no parole, in the “Transformatorul” file, and currently serves time.

Victor Babiuc, who led the Defence Ministry, was sentenced to two years in jail in a land plot exchange from the early 90s. He served only a third of his sentence.

Former Prime Minister Adrian Nastase served prison time in two cases. The court sentenced him to four years in prison in the “Zambaccian” file and two years in jail in a case nicknamed “Quality Trophy”. He was released from prison in August 2014.

Former Deputy Prime Minister and Senator George Copos is also in jail, after convictions in 2014. The court sentenced him to four years in jail, without parole, in a tax evasion case nicknamed “Loteria 1”. In the second case, he received three years and eight months in prison, without parole, in a case involving a transfer of football players.

Former Transport Minister Miron Mitrea and former Youth and Sports Minister Monica Iacob Ridzi also got jail time, but the sentences are not final.

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