Romanian anticorruption prosecutors have started a new case against social-democrat leader Viorel Hrebenciuc. Former minister Dan Sova, currently acting as vice president of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and senator in Romania’s Parliament was also indicted in this case, after he was questioned by prosecutors of the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) on Monday, October 20.

Viorel Hrebenciuc, who is also the leader of the PSD parliamentary group and vice president in Romanian Parliament’s Deputies Chamber, allegedly asked Dan Sova to try to get the Justice Minister to initiate a law which would pardon political leaders investigated for influence peddling. In exchange, Hrebenciuc allegedly promised Sova his support for party leader, after PSD’s current president, Prime Minister Victor Ponta, would get elected president.

Dan Sova was minister in charge of strategic projects in Victor Ponta’s cabinet. He was then named minister of transport, but he resigned from this position in June this year, to take charge of Victor Ponta’s presidential campaign. Sova and Ponta studied law together and were close friends before Ponta became Prime Minister. Dan Sova also had his name tied to a corruption case investigated by DNA prosecutors earlier this year.

Sova met with Hrebenciuc on Friday, October 17, according to DNA. This was after DNA announced its intention to prosecute and to arrest Viorel Hrebenciuc and PSD deputy Ioan Adam in an influence trading case related to illegal restitutions of large forest surfaces belonging to Romanian state-owned Romsilva.

Ioan Adam and Viorel Hrebenciuc are believed to have set up an organized crime group with the sole purpose of having some 43,000 hectares of forests illegally restituted by Romania’s state forests’ administration company Romsilva to a group of private persons. The damage to Romsilva in this care is more than EUR 300 million, prosecutors said.

According to DNA, Viorel Hrebenciuc, allegedly tried to use his influence on PSD senator Ilie Sarbu, who’s also PM Victor Ponta’s father-in-law, to help expedite the restitution process. Hrebenciuc would have received some 12,000 hectares of forests worth some EUR 83 million, had this scheme been finalized.

It is in this context that Hrebenciuc met with Dan Sova to talk about ways to get an article removed from the law which sanctions acts of corruption in Romania (Law 78/2000). The targeted article (article 13) says that influence trading or abuse of authority from political party leaders, committed with the purpose of getting money, goods or any benefits for himself or for third parties is considered are offenses assimilated with corruption crimes and are punishable by one to five years jail time. The two also wanted to get a pardon for all politicians who have been convicted for influence trading so far.

According to DNA, Hrebenciuc wanted to do this for himself as well as for Miron Mitrea, another influential PSD leader, who was convicted last week to two years in jail, no parole, for bribery and influence trading. The decision in Mitrea’s case is not final.

DNA also prosecuted Viorel Hrebenciuc, on Monday, in another influence trading case, his third this month, for trying to get inside information from a DNA employee about the cases in which he was investigated and about any wiretapping warrants on him. Hrebenciuc allegedly obtained this information with the help of a former head of a protection structure in Romania, to whom he promised his help in several issues. One of the requests which Hrebenciuc promised to fulfil was to get vice-president of the National Authority for Consumer Protection dismissed.

editor@romania-insider.com