Media Headlines

Dan Voiculescu, one of the most influential characters in post-communist Romania and the owner of a fortune that he used to climb the political ladder, was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for money laundering, in a corruption case. Another 12 people were given prison sentences in the same case, including a former telecommunications minister and a well-known nutritionist.

România Internațional, 27.09.2013, 14:01

Dan Voiculescu, one of the most influential characters in post-communist Romania and the owner of a fortune that he used to climb the political ladder, was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for money laundering, in a corruption case. Another 12 people were given prison sentences in the same case, including a former telecommunications minister and a well-known nutritionist.

Voiculescu is however the protagonist of this story. Although the sentence is not final, news of his conviction traveled fast in the Romanian media, the same media that the businessman and founder of one of the parties in the ruling coalition did not hesitate to use as a tool to wage his war against various Romanian politicians. Voiculescu actually owns one of the most powerful media groups in the country, Intact.

The daily paper ADEVARUL writes that Voiculescu “used political influence to buy the majority stake in the state-owned Institute for Food Research at a much lower price than its actual market value. Basically, Voiculescu bought 3.6 hectares of land and 1 hectare of buildings in Baneasa, seen as a real estate heaven, at a price 75 times lower than its real value”. Prosecutors estimate the fraudulent privatization of the Institute for Food Research to have caused damages of 60 million euros, an amount that all those indicted must pay back.

In turn, the daily paper JURNALUL NATIONAL, currently owned by Dan Voiculescu’s media group, writes, “The primary target of prosecutors had been Dan Voiculescu all along, the political arch-enemy of incumbent president Traian Basescu. The court case was strictly connected to the political endeavours of Dan Voiculescu to suspend president Basescu by means of two constitutional procedures”.

Another daily paper, EVENIMENTUL ZILEI, writes, “Felix bluffed and lost,” a reference to the code name under which Voiculescu was recruited as an informer for the former political police the Securitate. The same daily adds: “The court case has had a swerving trajectory ever since 2008, during which time it was pending in various courts in Bucharest. Voiculescu’s resignation from Parliament eventually gave prosecutors the opportunity to refer the matter to the Bucharest Tribunal, after Voiculescu had shun the Supreme Court of Justice,” where high-ranking acting officials are usually brought on trial.

Along similar lines, the daily GANDUL writes: “Over the 10 years that have passed since the offences were committed, Voiculescu has tapped into his hockey past, skating and spinning through Romanian courts, entering and withdrawing from Parliament faster than he would write reports for the Securitate. Voiculescu will very likely keep trying to time it out, slowing things down as much as possible, through appeals and pettifoggery.”