Prosecutors from the National Anti-corruption Department, DNA, aim to start a criminal inquiry into nine former government ministers suspected of money laundering, abuse of office and bribery in a case involving the lease of Microsoft IT licenses for schools.

Prosecutors believe there was corruption in the contract worth 105 million US dollars, which was to supply Microsoft Office licenses to schools and other public institutions between 2004 and 2009.

The DNA press release said that it believed officials embezzled the 47-per-cent discount on the price that Microsoft offered the Romanian government.

It said the ministers in question also sought bribes in order to favour Fujitsu Siemens Computers in operating the contract, at a price that was overestimated by 40 per cent.

An investigation showed that out of the 54 million US dollars that the government paid under the licensing contract and its extension, commissions paid to public officials amounted to 20 million US dollars.

The DNA has asked parliament and the President to allow inquiries to start into three former education ministers, four former IT communication ministers, one ex-finance minister and a former government secretary. By law, deputies and senators cannot be prosecuted unless parliament lifts their immunity.

The investigation follows a complaint made in May by the government’s Control Unit, which notified prosecutors of alleged irregularities in the schools contract. The former government approved the contract.

Romania is still considered one of the most corrupt states in the European Union and has made only limited progress in fighting corruption and organised crime since it joined the EU in 2007.

But in recent years, the number of high-ranking officials sentenced for graft has increased significantly.