Court Postpones Trial Of Romanian Media Owner Vintu For Nov 26

The court has yet to decide whether it will extend the three defendants' ban on leaving the country.

Magistrates postponed the trial date Monday after Stoian requested more time to hire a lawyer.

Prosecutors indicted Vintu, Stoian and Turcan on charges of aiding and abetting convict Nicolae Popa, a former manager of company Gelsor sentenced to jail time for fraud.

Vintu is accused of helping Popa flee the country before the latter was sentenced to 15 years in prison for defrauding 300,000 people in a massive Ponzi scheme. Vintu allegedly sent Popa money while he was abroad.

On December 2, Popa was arrested in Jakarta, Indonesia, and the Romanian Justice Ministry sent Indonesian authorities a request to extradite Popa.

According to prosecutors, Vintu and Stoian tried to hinder extradition procedures so that Popa would not be imprisoned.

Vintu, Stoian and Turcan had been detained early September and placed under arrest for 29 days. The three were released from arrest on September 16 to be investigated and tried at large.

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