DNA is looking for the bribe taken for hiring firemen

According to anticorruption prosecutors, eight officers of the inspectorate might have caused a prejudice of more than 1,000,000 lei 

Coupe de theatre with Dobrogea Inspectorate for Emergency Situations. Eight officers, among which there is also the former executive chief-inspector, lt. col. Andrei Gabriel Niculae, were taken in custody by Bucharest Military Tribunal, for 29 days.

The scandal is connected to the contest for filling in the vacancies with Dobrogea ISU [Inspectorate for Emergency Situations], held in year 2007. The accusations are intellectual forgery and use of intellectual forgery, offences connected to corruption, abuse of office against personal interests and association for the purpose of committing offences. Practically, on the DNA blacklist, next to col. Andrei Gabriel Niculae, we will also find major Gabriel Alexandrescu, lt. Adrian Mihai Bugnar, captain. Marius Sorin Bugnar, major Costel Datcu, captain Florin Niculae, lt. col. Sorin-Marius Creţu and major Liviu Deoşlea. It's interesting how the DNA "whip" seems to have spared col. Neculai Coman, prime executive chief-inspector, and also former chief of Dobrogea ISU, gen. Petre Trandafir, who retired last year. According to col. Viorel Costache, the present chief of Dobrogea ISU, the eight incriminated officers had been made available for DNA since inquiries started. Yesterday, they were suspended from their positions. According to anticorruption prosecutors, lt. col. Niculae and major Alexandrescu were charged with "intellectual forgery and use of intellectual forgery, offences connected to continuous corruption and abuse of office against personal interests, if the official obtained for him or other person an advantage of patrimonial or not-patrimonial nature, repeatedly committed".  These two are also suspect for the association for the purpose of committing an offence connected to complicity to the offence of corruption, intellectual forgery and use of intellectual forgery, which are again directly connected to the offence of corruption, both of them repeatedly committed. In their turn, lt. Adrian Bugnar, major. Costel Datcu, captain. Florin Niculae, lt. col. Sorin Creţu and major Liviu Deoşlea are also investigated for intellectual forgery and use of intellectual forgery, directly connected to corruption repeatedly committed. DNA is inquiring them for "abuse of office against personal interest, if the official continuously obtained for him or other person an advantage of patrimonial or not-patrimonial nature, in connection to the offence of corruption and association for offence committing repeatedly committed".

All this because of the contest

DNA prosecutors state that on August, 15-16 2007, on the written examination within the contest for under-officer vacancies, for subject "servants - car drivers", the eight defendants, members of the examining commission, breached the course of carrying out an examination with the purpose of forging the results of the contest held by Dobrogea Inspectorate for Emergency Situations with Constanţa county. More precisely, the investigators are saying that, the eight officers, as they were grading the papers, might have falsified the papers of 67 candidates, out of which 60 obtained the maximum grade or a very high grade, eventually being declared admitted. "Within the same examination" DNA is stating, "defendants Niculae Andrei Gabriel and Alexandrescu Gabriel also forged two acknowledgment reports of the folder containing the contest papers". And more, 27 candidates, having an average examination mark superior to 7, were declared rejected, according to DNA, and they were replaced with candidates having forged contest papers. All these 27 persons are now civil part in a lawsuit and have claimed the value of all the salaries they should have received if under-officers with Dobrogea ISU. The investigators estimated the prejudice being more than 1,000,000 lei, "this sum standing for the material advantages of the candidates admitted, consequently to examination paper forgery". The eight suspects were detained on Tuesday, for 24 hours.

They appealed

Yesterday, they were brought to Bucharest Military Tribunal, with the request of their taking into custody. The military court sustained DNA request, so the officers were taken into custody for 29 days. Shortly after finding out the sentence pronounced by Bucharest Military Tribunal, all defendants appealed.

Most probably, the appeal will be held on Friday by the Military Court of Appeal. According to DNA, "initiation of the criminal action represents a stage of the criminal proceedings regulated by the Criminal Procedure Code in order to propose some preventive measures, an activity which cannot, under any circumstances, infringe the principle of presumption of innocence". DNA is also investigating another six officers with Dobrogea ISU. There is still one question in the air: in the context of the accusations of those eight suspects, related to the fraud of the ISU contest, why col. Neculai Coman, prime executive chief-inspector and the president of the evaluating commission, was skipped by anticorruption prosecutors. We will have to wait for the results of the investigations started by DNA with Dobrogea Inspectorate for Emergency Situations. About taking the eight officers into custody, sergeant major Paula Anghel, spokeswoman of Dobrogea ISU, stated that "the inspectorate has been informed today, by representatives of the National Anticorruption Direction - the section for fighting corruption offences committed by the military personnel, that yesterday, May 12, 2009, initiation of the criminal action against the eight defendants and their detaining for a period of 24 hours was ordered ".

„According to provisions of Law 80/1995, on the statute of military staff, art 89",  sergeant major Paula Anghel stated, „starting from today, the eight officers are suspended from their functions."