Romanian SocDem MPs investigated for several acts of corruption in major bribery case

Three MPs representing the Social Democratic Party (PSD), namely Dorel Caprar, Florin Tripa and Ioan Chisalita, are investigated for several acts of corruption, including bribery and abuse of office, in a major case of bribery that also targets 12 other people.

The case mainly focuses on bribes given to the Regional Roads and Bridges Directorate (DRPD) in Timisoara, but the investigation also revealed the political control over the county institutions, their heads having the obligation to pay a monthly tax to the Arad branch of PSD, local G4media.ro reported.

Eight of the people targeted by this investigation were initially arrested but the Court decided to dismiss the anticorruption prosecutors’ request to place them under preventive arrest. Three of them were placed under judicial control instead.

The National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) issued a press release in which it explained how the criminal activity was carried out in this case. It said that the investigation was carried out on two levels, one targeting the “protection” offered by persons with management positions to the customs traffic controllers in exchange for money, and the other targeting the way in which employments were made in the local structures of the National Company for the Management of the Road Infrastructure (CNAIR), respectively on the party line.

Specifically, officials working in some control and collection agencies located at the border crossing points allegedly demanded and took bribes from transporters, in addition to the legal fees, in order not to find and apply certain sanctions to them, the prosecutors say.

Miutescu Elisabeta, employed at the Nadlac II Collection and Control Agency, allegedly claimed and received a total of EUR 19,300 from one of the traffic controllers between 2016 and November 2019, in exchange for “protection.”

Meanwhile, the Social Democrat MP Dorel Caprar, who is also the head of PSD Arad, allegedly developed a mechanism aimed at collecting important amounts of money for the Arad county branch of PSD. He is accused of having asked the heads of DRPD Timisoara to collect between EUR 5,000 and EUR 10,000 from persons interested in obtaining functions in these institutions, to ensure them the winning of the respective positions, local Digi24 reported. Moreover, to make sure that they keep these positions, these persons were also required to pay a monthly fee directly to the party cashier.

Thus, Dorel Caprar would have repeatedly received amounts of thousands of euros, at the party cashier. The monthly taxes that the DRPD employees allegedly obtained from that mechanism implemented with the violation of the law at the Nadlac 2 customs point also ended up at the party.

The other two PSD MPs, Florin Tripa and Ioan Chisalita, were charged with influence peddling and complicity to abuse of office, as they also used their influence to illegally appoint other defendants in this case in management positions.

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