The mayor of Baia Mare, Cătălin Cherecheş, was definitively sentenced to 5 years in prison in the case in which he stands accused of bribery. He was also put on the wanted list after the police did not find him at home or at work. 

Cherecheş was indicted by the DNA on May 20, 2016, for bribery after allegedly receiving RON 70,000 (EUR 14,000) from a person in the management of CS Fotbal Club Municipal Baia Mare to financially support the club. 

The Cluj Court of Appeals rejected the mayor's appeal and upheld the sentence given in February 2022 by the Cluj Tribunal, with only a few provisions regarding the complementary penalty being modified. The prohibition regarding the right to be elected in public authorities or any other public functions, the right to hold a position that involves the exercise of state authority, and the right to hold the position of mayor have been extended from 4 to 5 years. 

“Today, November 24, the police officers of the Maramureș County Police Inspectorate received from the court an execution warrant for a 5-year prison sentence issued for a 45-year-old man from Baia Mare, for committing the crime of bribery in continuous form. The police are conducting checks to locate the man," announced the Maramureș County Police, cited by Digi24.

Cătălin Cherecheş was put on the wanted list, and his photo and details were posted on the Romanian Police website under the section 'Wanted Persons.' 

The mayor’s parents-in-law were arrested at the beginning of November after his mother-in-law was caught in the act by DNA prosecutors while allegedly giving EUR 50,000 to the mother of a judge from the Cluj Court of Appeals for a more lenient verdict in the mayor's case.

radu@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Catalin Chereches on Facebook)