March 2, 2012
PRESS RELEASE
The Public Information and Press Relations Bureau within the Prosecutors Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice is authorized to bring to public knowledge the following:
In furtherance of the inquiries in the case concerning the illegal issuance of civil status documents, prosecutors from the Criminal Investigations and Criminalistics Section within the Prosecutors Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice submitted, on March 1, 2012, a request for the pretrial arrest of the defendants:
1. Patriana-Mariana BIȘA (a contractual employee of the Bucharest Community Public Service for Population Records Population Record Office No. 5) for receiving undue advantages, complicity to passive bribe, and direct or indirect use of information that is not meant for public release, in order to obtain undue advantages for another person;
2. Aliona STOLEARENCO (middleperson with double citizenship Romanian and Moldovan) for trading in influence (23 material acts);
3. Larisa SIREȚANU (middleperson with double citizenship Romanian and Moldovan) for active bribery (2 material acts) and trading in influence (15 material acts);
4. Iulian NIȚU (employee at the National Citizenship Authority) for passive bribery (140 material acts) and falsification of public instruments (138 material acts);
5. Liliana Gutnic (middleperson with double citizenship) for trading in influence (9 material acts) and active bribery (5 material acts);
6. Dumitru PRISĂCARU (middleperson with double citizenship) for trading in influence (5 material acts);
7. Nicolae GHICIOV (middleperson) for continued trading in influence;
8. Alexandra NICULAE (employee at the Bucharest Sector 1 Civil Registry) for continued passive bribery (3 material acts);
9. Iurie POPOV for passive bribery (2 material acts);
10. Crina IONESCU (employee) for passive bribery;
11. Emilia-Gina TACHE (employee at the National Citizenship Authority) for passive bribery and the direct or indirect use of information that is not meant for public release in order to obtain undue advantages for another person (16 material acts).
To assess the actual social danger posed by the charges held against the defendants, the prosecutors invoked the fact that the defendants Patriana-Mariana BIȘA, Emilia-Gina TACHE, Iulian NIȚU, Alexandra NICULAE, and Crina IONESCU acted in their capacity of employees of a public authority whose job requirements are clearly regulated by the legal provisions. Instead of observing the law by abiding the procedural stages and checking the documents thoroughly, they made every effort to obtain additional incomes by repeatedly breaking their job requirements.
They have concertedly prejudiced the social values related to the granting of citizenship and the right of residence, and the issuance of passports, and have compromised the social values relating to citizenship and the civil status of individuals.
The evidence produced shows a reasonable presumption that the defendants gave civil status documents in exchange of money, which is against the legal procedures.
Considering the importance of the field at issue resulting from the legal provisions establishing the conditions and procedure for granting citizenship, the right of residence and the issuance of passports, the acts committed against these social values are of a nature to create a public danger.
The magistrates from the Bucharest Tribunal have granted the request for the pretrial arrest of all the above-mentioned persons and have issued preventive arrest warrants against them for 29 days, from March 2, 2012 until March 30, 2012.
In this same case, prosecutors from the Criminal Investigation and Criminalistics Section of the Prosecutors Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice have taken the precautionary measure of forbidding 6 of the investigated persons to leave the locality.
Yesterday, March 1, 2012, other 13 persons were heard in this case:
- Criminal proceedings were instituted against 6 individuals; No procedural measures have been ordered so far;
- 7 persons were heard as witnesses.
Today, March 2, 2012, prosecutors from the Criminal Investigation and Criminalistics Section of the Prosecutors Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice are hearing two other persons charged in this case.
The searches initiated two days ago (on February 29 and March 1, 2012, respectively) were finished last evening. Various documents, such as standard forms, proof of registration of the applications, note books containing a record of the persons who were to obtain the citizenship in this fraudulent manner, as well as large amounts of money in lei and foreign currency tens of thousands of euros, IT systems. All the goods seized during the searches will be analyzed and examined within the general context of all the evidence produced in this case.
The investigations carried out so far have revealed that the money was sent from abroad by bank transfers.
The way in which the money was transferred by those involved was documented by prosecutors from the Criminal Investigation and Criminalistics Section of the Prosecutors Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice with the help of the Secret Service of the USA Embassy in Bucharest.
Investigations are carried out to determine all the circumstances of this case and establish the legal liability of each person under investigation.