Romania's Prime Minister, on trial court for forgery and money laundering

Romania's National Anticorruption Directorate - DNA decided on Thursday, September 17, to send Romania's Prime Minister Victor Ponta to court, together with senator Dan Sova and three other people. The prosecutors indicted Victor Ponta for forgery, complicity to tax evasion, and money laundering. The charges are related to Ponta's activity as a lawyer, a few years before he was appointed Prime Minister. The anticorruption prosecutors started investigating PM Victor Ponta at the beginning of June this year in a case related to his activity as a lawyer for Dan Sova’s law firm. Between October 2007 and December 2008, Ponta was on the payroll of Sova’s firm, during which period Sova and Asociatii was working as a legal consultant for state-owned thermal energy producers Turceni and Rovinari. Ponta allegedly received some RON 181,000 (more than EUR 40,000) without doing any activity in this period while Sova's firm received over EUR 1 million from the electricity producers for legal representation in various litigations. Dan Sova was sent to court under judicial control for complicity to abuse of office, forgery, tax evasion, and money laundering, according to a DNA statement. The other three people sent to court in this case are Dan Ciurel, who was the general manager of Complexul Energetic Rovinar at that time, Dumitru Cristea – the general manager of Complexul Energetic Turceni at the time when the contracts were signed, and Laurentiu-Octavian Graure – economic director at Complexul Energetic Turceni at that time. The three managers approved the payments to Sova's law firm. Romanian anticorruption prosecutors indict PM Victor Ponta, seize some of his assets. Political storm breaks loose in Romania: PM faces corruption charges, no-confidence motion. Romanian PM keeps his immunity as fellow MPs shield him against corruption charges. Romanian PM leaves his party’s helm. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com