Illegal transfers worth millions of dollars

The Parliament Commission controlling the activity of SRI (Romanian Intelligence) on Wednesday released a report according to which Romanian companies held by foreign citizens (mostly Arabian-born citizens) have illegally transferred hundreds of millions of dollars abroad over the past three years.

Although these activities are related to economic and financial crime, the SRI Commission considers they cannot be linked with terrorism.

The report accordingly concludes that Osama bin Laden has no funds or income in Romania, while no person or entities linked with the most wanted terrorist and with his organisation Al-Quaida have been traced.

Between 2000-2001, 160 million dollars were transferred through a bank subsidiary to a Middle East country in the accounts of certain companies or businessmen known as belonging to some extremist Islamic groups, the chairman of the Parliament Commission Ioan Stan (PSD) said quoting the report.

According to the document, “significant” amounts derived from drug smuggling and masked as transactions with clothes were transferred abroad by a company located in the country.

The report also highlights that money has been laundered over the past two years by 23 Arabian citizens through 19 companies. The transactions were worth more than 80 million dollars.

According to the same report, 49 Bucharest-based economic agents transferred 83 million dollars in down payments without justifying them by goods or services imports.

The controls point out that all the 49 companies to which some Arabian-born citizens are associates are phantom companies, established with the obvious purpose to mislead the financial and fiscal control, using fake addresses and fictitious tenancy contracts, the SRI Commission chairman said.

According to Stan, who quoted the report of the Parliament Commission, the hard currency transfers were based on pro forma bills, which do not act as contractual pledges.