BUCHAREST, Romania — A leading candidate to run a new European public prosecutor’s office was barred from leaving her native Romania and accused of several crimes on Friday, a development that is likely to cause consternation in Brussels and raise fresh questions about Romania’s commitment to the rule of law.

Laura Codruta Kovesi, the former head of the country’s anticorruption agency, was questioned for more than six hours on Thursday by the Special Section for the Investigation of Crimes Committed by Magistrates, a controversial agency set up in 2018 with responsibility for investigating prosecutors and judges.

On Friday, the agency announced in a statement that it had started criminal proceedings against Ms. Kovesi, who is accused of bribery, abuse of office and false witness. Placed under a status called judicial control, Ms. Kovesi is unable to leave Romania without the consent of prosecutors for 60 days, and is also barred from carrying out activities as a prosecutor or talking to the news media about the case.

Widely praised in Brussels for her anticorruption record, Ms. Kovesi made powerful enemies at home in her time running Romania’s National Anticorruption Directorate, which successfully prosecuted thousands of government officials, lawmakers and business leaders. Among those convicted was Liviu Dragnea, the leader of Romania’s governing Social Democratic Party, who was sentenced to three and a half years in prison for abuse of office last June. Mr. Dragnea is appealing the verdict.