Corruption during the pandemic?

The former Romanian football star and coach Victor Piţurcă is under investigation in a corruption file

Ştefan Stoica, 31.01.2023, 14:00

The years 2020 and 2021, the first
and most difficult of the Covid-19 pandemic, involved huge budget expenses in
the medical field without which the hospitals couldn’t have coped with the waves
of infections.

However, some public procurement procedures
at that time have raised suspicions, something not unusual in a country where
contracts with the state are the most rewarding. Anti-corruption prosecutors
have kicked off a series of investigations, which have revealed the involvement
of several celebrities in Romania. The National Anti-corruption Directorate,
known in Romania as the DNA, has detained, among others, the former selector of
the Romanian national football side, Victor Piturca, and Gabriel Ţuţu, director
of Romarm, the main company specialized in the production and export of
military gear, in a file on the purchase of some production lines, which were
not up to the production standards, and the selling of masks to the Ministry of
Defence during the pandemic.

One of the companies involved in
these transactions allegedly belong to Alex Piturca, the son of the former
football star, who has also been accused of using his influence in order to
ease his son’s access to the contracts. Gabriel Ţuţu has been facing charges of
abuse of office with aggravating circumstances, influence peddling and forgery.
According to prosecutors, against the Covid-19 pandemic between March 2020 and
September 2021, Gabriel Ţuţu, as director general of Romarm, would have
concluded with a series of companies, including one belonging to the other
person presently under investigation, two public procurement contracts that eventually
proved to be disadvantageous for the company he was leading. The contracts were
for buying of seven pieces of equipment used in the production of masks, but the
machines purchased failed to meet the production standards.

The transactions concluded eventually
resulted in a prejudice of 1.7 million euros for the state-owned company Romarm.
According to prosecutors, Ţuţu would have asked the companies involved in the
aforementioned procurement transactions to conclude consultancy contracts with
one of his friends, who wasn’t actually involved in the real trade activities
under the aforementioned contract.

The suspect insinuated that he had
influence over Defence Ministry employees and was able to influence their
granting of contracts. Ţuţu has allegedly received the sum of 10 thousand Euros through a
middleman. We recall that selector Piturca had already received a one-year
suspended prison sentence for perjury. Piturca is the goal-getter of the
legendary football side Steaua Bucharest with which he won back in late 80s the
European Champions Cup and Europe’s Supercup. He was also a reputed football
coach whose prize closet includes numerous trophies he won with the clubs he
coached and had a considerable hand in the qualification of the Romanian
national squad for two major European tournaments.

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