Romanian businessman Adrian Sarbu, owner of Mediafax - one of the largest media groups in Romania, took over as CEO of the company starting December 2014, according to legal documents quoted by media blog paginademedia.ro.

Sarbu’s decision came after Mediafax was involved in a tax evasion scandal at the end of last year. The group’s former CEO, Orlando Nicoara, resigned in November 2014.

In December, several of the group’s firms were raided by prosecutors and police who were looking for evidence of tax evasion and money laundering. Several people were held for questioning in this case. The group’s representatives deemed the prosecutors’ actions as vengeful and abusive. This led to a situation in which Mediafax could no longer pay its journalists due to seizures on its accounts.

In mid-December, the Bucharest Court approved Mediafax Group’s insolvency and appointed KPMG Restructuring SPRL as interim judicial administrator.

The group owns the Mediafax news agency and Ziarul Financiar, which is the largest business daily newspaper in Romania.

Adrian Sarbu is the founder of Romania’s largest TV station PRO TV, and the former CEO of media group Central European Media Enterprises (CME), which now owns PRO TV. Sarbu left CME in 2013.

editor@romania-insider.com