Romanian prosecutors arrested Marian Vanghelie, the mayor of Bucharest’s District 5, on corruption charges.

Vanghelie allegedly took bribes to assign public contracts worth some EUR 450 million for thermal rehabilitation of residential buildings to firms owned by a local businessman. He then laundered the money via several firms owned by people close to him, such as his cousin and his girlfriend Oana Niculescu Mizil, who is a member of Romania’s Parliament, according to Mediafax.

The police’s special intervention unit first raided Vanghelie’s home on Thursday morning and then went to his office at the city hall. The prosecutors then took Vanghelie in for questioning. Vanghelie’s girlfriend, Oana Niculescu Mizil, also went to DNA for questioning on Thursday morning. She answered the prosecutors’ questions in the same corruption case.

Marian Vanghelie is a former influential member of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and has been mayor of District 5 since 2000. He’s known as an outspoken politician, which brought him a lot of trouble within his party. After his latest outburst, during the presidential campaign in November last year, Prime Minister Victor Ponta, PSD’s leader, ousted him and two others from the party at the end of 2014.

Vanghelie became famous for his New Year’s Eve parties organized at Romexpo, which featured international artists, and for the large public picnics he organized in Bucharest’s parks. He is also known for his sometimes poor use of Romanian language.

His district includes some of the poorest neighborhoods in Bucharest, with some of the streets unpaved and lacking water supply.

Vanghelie’s girlfriend, Oana Niculescu Mizil, is the granddaughter of one of Nicolae Ceausescu’s ministers. She is also a PSD member and a deputy in Romania’s Parliament. She represents an electoral college located in Vanghelie’s District 5.

editor@romania-insider.com