Romanian Prosecutors Indict High Officials In Graft Case

Romanian anticorruption prosecutors on Tuesday indicted Paul Pacuraru, former labor minister during April 3, 2007 – September 23, 2008, and Ilie Morega, member of the General Assembly of Shareholders in thermal power producers Rovinari and Turceni, and the Oltenia National Coal Company (SNLO), on charges of corruption.

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Pacuraru was allegedly recorded while asking Gorj county liberal leader Ilie Morega to step in and ask the managers of the three companies to grant contracts to his son’s company, Intratest.

On June 3, 2007, Morega allegedly promised Pacuraru he would help his son, Mihnea Pacuraru, to get hold of public procurement contracts targeting professional training within the aforementioned companies, while Pacuraru was supposed to step in and appoint one of Morega’s cronies, Dan Ilie, as chief inspector within the Gorj Labor Inspectorate.

Following talks, Pacuraru arranged a meeting between his son and Morega, while on June 15, 2007, Pacuraru appointed Ilie as interim chief inspector.

Pacuraru said that, in a conversation with his son, Morega offered to facilitate a contract. Pacuraru’s son allegedly refused the offer politely, informing Morega that the mentioned contract had already been won through an auction. Pacuraru refused to reveal the value of contracts obtained by his son’s company in Gorj, adding that the only sums collected were for the “schooling of 45 people."

On September 24, 2007 the leadership of Romania’s National Anticorruption Department (DNA), asked for the presidency’s consent to probe Pacuraru.

Later, following a decision of the Constitutional Court, the procedure targeting probes into current and former ministers was amended, stipulating the Parliament needs to approve probes against ministers who are also members of Parliament.

Thus, on April 14, 2008, the Senate was notified of the start of a criminal investigation against Pacuraru and on August 26, 2008, the Senate approved prosecutors’ request and gave green light to the criminal investigation.

Prosecutors will also investigate the way in which SNLO and Turceni assigned public procurement contracts.

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