Romanian Football Graft Trial Prosecutors Widen Suspect List

Romanian anticorruption prosecutors are investigating Gheorghita Pieca, manager of the companies SC Pic SA and Football Club Arges, under charges of accessory to bribery, the National Anticorruption Department informed Monday.

According to the case files, Pieca allegedly decided to take from the SC Pic SA casher sums of money which would wind up as bribes or payoffs performed by Cornel Penescu and Liviu Facaleata. In all situations, according to anticorruption prosecutors, Peica was aware of the purposes intended for the money.

In September 2007, Pieca allegedly gave Penescu the lei equivalent of $10,000, a sum that would late be given as bribe to Gheorghe Constantin, who at that time was president of the Central Referee Committee, while on December 14, 2008, and on March 12, 2009, Pieca allegedly gave Penescu RON270,000 and respectively RON20,000, to be forwarded as bribe for Gheorghe Constantin, who would appoint certain referees liked by Penescu in the games held by FC Arges in the 2008-2009 season, as well as to promote to League A one referee, protégée of Penescu.

Between September 2008 and March 2009, Pieca allegedly made available for Penescu sums of money cumulating $54,000, which would be offered as bribe, through Liviu Facaleata, to several referee in football, who were supposed to favor FC Arges in its League I games.

In addition, Pieca also allegedly gave Penescu EUR4,000, which would be sent as bribe to Dan Cristian Libertatu, director of the Arges County Consumer Protection Office, who was supposed to skip Penescu’s company, SC Pic SA, during standard consumer protection inspections.

Prosecutors informed Pieca of the charges, and Pieca was placed under preventive arrest for 29 days.

Pieca’s lawyers appealed the preventive arrest decision Saturday.

In the refereeing corruption trial, on April 14 anticorruption prosecutors arrested football club FC Arges financer Cornel Penescu, suspended Central Referee Committee president Gheorghe Constantin, PIC hypermarket general manager Liviu Facaleata, as well as the former director od the Arges County Consumer Protection Office, Cristian Libertatu. Cornel Penescu and Liviu Facaleata are charged with offering bribe, while Gheorghe Constantin and Cristian Libertatu are charged with taking bribe.

On May 11, the Arges Court decided to discontinue the arrest warrants, but anticorruption prosecutors appealed, and one day later the Pitesti Court of Appeal allowed the action, thus the defendants remained under arrest for at least 30 days.

 

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