Prosecutors of the Romanian National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) have sent to court Serban Pop, the former president of the tax collection agency ANAF, for taking a EUR 2.5 million bribe from a businessman who was granted a VAT refund of EUR 48 million, according to a DNA release.

The businessman who allegedly bribed Pop, who was ANAF vice president at that time, was Sorin Ovidiu Vîntu, according to G4Media.ro sources.

Prosecutors claim that Pop received the bribe in four installments, in the accounts of offshore companies that he controlled indirectly, between September 8 and December 23, 2008.

Pop is not the first ANAF head to be indicted for corruption. Sorin Blejnar, a former ANAF head was sentenced in 2018 to 6 years in jail by a local Bucharest court for influence peddling.

Romania’s tax collection rate is the lowest among European Union states, with budget revenues below 30% of GDP (not including transfers from the EU budget).

Romania also has the widest VAT gap - the difference between what the tax agency should collect and what it actually collects.

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editor@romania-insider.com