Scandal in finances and politics

French daily “Le Parisien” unveiled in its yesterday issue a serious case of money laundering that seems to have implications on the Romanian political stage, the alleged sum standing at 70 million French francs (10.6 million euros). According to the above-quoted source, French authorities are investigating a file opened last autumn, through an official alert signal conveyed to Tracfin, an institution in charge with surveying suspect fund movements. Tracfin was notified through an anonymous letter about the case of a Romanian citizen who has had lived in France for about 20 years and who uses his holding based in France and managed by his wife to extract money from the accounts of some Romanian politicians.

French judge Henri Pons, dealing with this case, suspects that Romanian politicians made use of the respective firm’s services to embezzle state funds and launder money in Europe.

A magistrate within the Palace of Justice of Paris, Pons arrived yesterday in Bucharest to do some checking, reads the above-quoted daily.

Bucharest General Prosecutor’s Office yesterday confirmed that this case of corruption is being investigated by Romanian prosecutors as well, without granting further details. “French judges have arrived in our country two days ago to discover the people in Romania that are involved in this case,” prosecutor Robert Cazanciuc, spokesperson of the Prosecutor’s Office, told Ziarul Financiar. He added that during the following days the General Prosecutor’s Office would make public further details linked to this case.

According to some judicial sources quoted by Mediafax, the respective Romanian businessman is Adrian Costea, who also was involved in editing, in France, the album “Eternal and Fascinating Romania.”