A Romanian anti-corruption official detained on suspicion he inflated property prices, costing the state 75 million euros.
Horia Georgescu, who heads the National Integrity Agency (YEARS), responsible for checking the assets of public officials and rules on conflict of interest and compatibility issues, resigned on Tuesday after the allegations.
Georgescu is accused of committing 3 offenses. According to the allegations, the former head of YEARS, approved a report on the assessment made by experts, regarding the value of the property being restituted to former owners who lost it when the communists nationalised real estate. The report according to the officials didn’t take under consideration a number of factors and caused financial damage to the state.
Prosecutors have launched a series of high-level corruption investigations in recent months. Finance Minister Darius Valcov resigned Sunday after prosecutors charged him with taking 2 million euros in bribes when he was a mayor. On Monday, Mayor of Constanta Radu Mazare was arrested for 24 hours, after being accused for incompatibility by Georgescu.
The Mayor of Constanta, was arrested for 24 hours by the National Anti-corruption Directorate (DNA). Mazare told reports that he is accused “of having offered three contracts to a TV station”, which used to be shareholder.
The Mayor of the Municipality of Constanta mentioned having been cited based on a complaint filed against him by Horia Georgescu, accusing him of incompatibility. “Today, I was cited because of the complaint filed against me by ANI and Mr. Horia Georgescu, who accused me of incompatibility. I do not know the rest of the accusations against me. There was a similar accusation in 2009. (…) Perhaps, there are new accusations based on the same complaint”, the PSD Mayor declared.
When journalists informed Mazare that Horia Georgescu is also interrogated at the DNA, he replied: “I know one thing. Life taught me that if you do good, you receive good, and if you do evil things, you will receive equally evil things”.
