Romanian Businessman Sergiu Bahaian Indicted On Fraud, Murder Charges

According to prosecutors, the criminal group controlled by Bahaian scammed several companies by concluding questionable leasing contracts and defrauded them of 2.7 million lei (EUR1=RON4.3537).

Bahaian's accomplices, Valentin Slepac, Adrian Grigoras, Edward-Marian Marculescu, Dan-Liviu Iovan and George Florian Oprea, have also been indicted on the same charges. According to prosecutors, they set up a criminal group between December 2007 and May 2008, at Bahaian's initiative, in order to get hold of various goods through illicit operations. The group, which also included Emilian Leonte, Ionel Ulezu and Petrica Captalan, caused total damages of RON2,706,948.7 (EUR640,939.98) that were never recovered.

Nearly 40 commercial companies with various business cores were set up or taken over by some of the group members, also at Bahaian's initiative. These companies operated a wide range of commercial activities, which mainly targeted the purchase of goods paid with bad checks in order to obtain money by mortgaging the same goods at various banks, over and over again, as well as the purchase of various cars in leasing via front companies created illegally by fictive entities. According to prosecutors, some of the group members, Lucian Cernat, Emilian Leonte, Ionel Ulezu and Petrica Captalan, were killed to make sure they would not go to the police and speak about the illicit operations of these front companies.

Bahaian was first charged with ordering the killing of four people between 2006 and 2008, in a case Romania's chief prosecutor Laura Codruta Kövesi deemed "unprecedented". According to prosecutors, the victims, all former business associates of Bahaian, were forced to swallow diazepam and alcohol and were later buried alive or thrown in the Danube - Black Sea Canal. Two of the victims were found in a village, buried at a depth of 2.5 meters under a layer of rocks and concrete.

Prosecutions say Bahaian recruited lonely and poor people, created front companies in their names, and then asked them to buy various merchandise and cars with bad checks or promissory notes. Over 40 companies were created for this purpose. When Bahaian's accomplices started to make demands, they were soon eliminated.

Valentin Sepac and Adrian Grigoras, suspected of having killed four people and mastering various economic crimes, admitted to having committed the crimes at Bahaian's order, for fear they might be killed too, according to prosecutors.

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