IMPARȚIALITATE·INTEGRITATE·EFICIENȚĂ
July, 24th, 2015
No. 1316/VIII/3
Press Release
In addition to the press release 1308/VIII/3 from 23rd July 2015, the prosecutors within the National Anticorruption Directorate – Section for Combating the Offences Assimilated to those of Corruption ordered the start of criminal investigation against the following people:
GHEORGHE BUNEA STANCU, former president City Council Brăila, charged for the offence of traffic of influence.
NICULAE IOAN, the owner of the group S.C. INTERAGRO S.A., charged for the following offences:
- buying of influence, through repeated acts,
- instigation to tax evasion and
- instigation to money laundering.
TONCEA NICOLETA MARIANA, president of S C. INTERAGRO S.R.L., charged for the offences of :
- complicity to tax evasion
- complicity to money laundering.
BĂRAC VIOREL, general director of S.C. INTERAGRO S.A., charged for the following offences:
- tax evasion
- money laundering.
GUȚĂ ADRIANA, economic director S.C. INTERAGRO S.A., charged for the following offences:
- tax evasion
- money laundering.
S.C. INTERAGRO S.A., charged for the following offences:
- tax evasion
- money laundering.
The pretrial detention ordinance and the judicial control ordinance drawn up by the prosecutors indicated that there data and indicia leading to the reasonable suspicion describing the following state of facts.
During 2008 – 2009, several commercial transactions based on unperformed works took place between S.C. INTERAGRO S.A. and another company specialized in agriculture production and transactions with agriculture products, regarding the contract signed in August 2008, amounting to 10,000,000 Euro. According to the contract, this company was in charge with the production of promotional materials (key rings, post-it and stands) for S.C. Interagro S.A. Following the request of the suspect Ioan Niculae, the amounts of money for formally “passing” this company and later were outsourced to an “off shore” company from the din Virgin Islands.
The suspects Bărac Viorel and Guță Adriana were in charge with the signing and implementation of the advertising service delivery contract between S.C. Interagro S.A. and the company. They were also in charge with the recording of the financial –accounting documents. The suspects benefit from the support of the suspect Toncea Nicoleta Mariana who followed the instructions of the suspect Ioan Niculae and made all the payments to the company. The money laundering financial track for the amounts received from tax evasion was initiated and coordinated by the suspect Ioan and aimed to cause damage to the state budget amounting to 11,438,169 Lei, representing VAT amounting to 6.886.550 lei and tax on profit amounting to 4,551,619 Lei.
In the first part of 2009, the suspect Ioan Niculae, the owner of the group S.C. Interagro S.A., initiated and carried out corruption activities targeting public officials and people with high positions in the State, aiming to convince them to promote a Government Decision regulating the awarding of tax facilities related to the subsidizing of the procurement of chemical fertilizers, for the financial benefit of the INTERAGRO group. Thus, the suspect Ioan Niculae promised different benefits to the suspect Gheorghe Bunea Stancu, President of the County Brăila, at the time the acts were committed, in exchange for interceding with decision makers within the Romanian Government in order to approve the Government Decision.
The suspects were informed about their legal status and charges, according to the provisions of article 307 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
It should be mentioned that the start of the criminal action represents a stage of a criminal trial regulated by the Criminal Procedure Code, a situation which cannot, under any circumstances, infringe the principle of presumption of innocence.
THE INFORMATION AND PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICE