The ongoing investigation into the sale of Microsoft licenses and hardware to the Romanian state, in which nine former Romanian ministers were accused of having taken bribes, office abuse or influence trading, has recently taken a spectacular turn, after the confession of a witness in this case was made public on Tuesday, September 30, 2014.

The statement of the unnamed witness, which was leaked to Mediafax newswire, described what happened more than ten years ago in this tangled business. The whistleblower named influential managers in the Romanian IT sectors and ministers in the Romanian Government who were involved in this case.

He said the former general manager of Fujitsu Siemens Computers Romania, Claudiu Florica, was the key person in this case. He lobbied intensively to have his company win contracts to supply Microsoft IT licenses to the state, for schools all across Romania.

“This USD 200 million mega-contract was initiated, negotiated and controlled by Claudiu Florica in 2001-2002, when he had direct meetings with Ecaterina Andronescu (Education Minister at that time – e.n.), Mihnea Costoiu and other employees in the Education Ministry, who were decision makers in this project. The contract was attributed through direct negotiation with only one source, although an open auction would have been possible. The decision was taken by the Government in a closed meeting that was never made public,” said the witness, according to Mediafax.

Romanian IT company Siveco was the main contractor which signed the contract with the Education Ministry, and the contract was made in such a way that it allowed addenda without other public procurement procedures. Compaq, for which Claudiu Florica was working at that time, was accepted as one of the suppliers in this contract. Compaq subcontracted the acquisition of some equipment to a firm in Austria, Technet, for USD 2.3 million. Technet Austria was allegedly one of the firms that were used by Romanian Government officials close to then prime minister Adrian Nastase to collect bribes, the confession reveals.

In order to be accepted as integrator in this contract, Siveco was requested to subcontract software and service acquisitions worth USD 1.5 million to a firm called Kapraras Consulting, led by Antonio Kapraras, which also acted as a front for people close to Adrian Nastase, according to the statement.

In 2002, Claudiu Florica moved from Compaq to Fujitsu Siemens Computers. Immediately after, Compaq was replaced by Fujitsu in the mega contract. Fujitsu was quickly given a USD 8 million order for hardware and services, which was subcontracted by Fujitsu to another firm led by people that had connections to Adrian Nastase. The prime minister at that time was the only one who could sign Government decisions to award public contracts without a public auction.

Basically, the scheme was as follows: the state contracted acquisitions of IT equipment, software and services from large multinational companies in which Florica was manager and these companies would add local firms that were connected to state officials as subcontractors, which would offer their services for overrated prices.  In the end, a part of the amounts paid by the state from public funding would return to ministers as bribes, via this network of firms.

Things went south for Claudiu Florica in August 2003, when Ecaterina Andronescu was replaced by Alexandru Athanasiu as minister of education and he couldn’t control the contract any more. The contract went on, but Fujitsu Siemens, Net Consulting and other firms 'protected' by Florica protected did not get a piece of the pie anymore, the witness said.

It was in this context that Florica tried to get back in the contract when the Government changed in December 2004 and the Democrat Liberals (PDL) came to power. He went to several members of the PDL and tried to convince them to get his firms back in while getting Siveco out. The new communications minister, Gabriel Sandu, allegedly asked for a EUR 1.8 million bribe to continue this contract, according to documents presented by the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) and quoted by Agerpres newswire.

In this large scandal, more than the nine former ministers have already been nominated on the prosecution bench. Among those whose names appear either in the DNA documents or in the leaked confession are former prime minister Adrian Nastase, his chief of staff Remus Truica, and his then head of the Control Task  Force, Victor Ponta, currently prime minister and now presidential candidate. Ponta however denied any involvement in this contract.

Ponta and his entourage are not the only ones are affected by this scandal. Some important names in other political and influence groups were revealed as well, such as Gheorghe Stefan, the mayor of Piatra Neamt, and Dorin Cocos, ex-husband of presidential candidate Elena Udrea.

Some important names in the local IT industry have also been tied to this scandal, such as those of Calin Tatomir, former general manager of Compaq andof Microsoft Romania (2008 to 2010), Vladimir Aninoiu, former general manager of IBM Romania, Radu Enache, former general manager of HP Romania, and Florin Talpes, the owner of Softwin.

The contract went on from 2001 until 2009 and the state spent some USD 124 million on it. It paid  double the normal market price for the hardware and as much as ten times the real price for the software it acquired in this contract,  with the difference between market costs and contract value split between the companies involved and politicians.

editor@romania-insider.com