The years 2020 and 2021, the first
\nand most difficult of the Covid-19 pandemic, involved huge budget expenses in
\nthe medical field without which the hospitals couldn’t have coped with the waves
\nof infections. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
However, some public procurement procedures
\nat that time have raised suspicions, something not unusual in a country where
\ncontracts with the state are the most rewarding. Anti-corruption prosecutors
\nhave kicked off a series of investigations, which have revealed the involvement
\nof several celebrities in Romania. The National Anti-corruption Directorate,
\nknown in Romania as the DNA, has detained, among others, the former selector of
\nthe Romanian national football side, Victor Piturca, and Gabriel \u0162u\u0163u, director
\nof Romarm, the main company specialized in the production and export of
\nmilitary gear, in a file on the purchase of some production lines, which were
\nnot up to the production standards, and the selling of masks to the Ministry of
\nDefence during the pandemic. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
One of the companies involved in
\nthese transactions allegedly belong to Alex Piturca, the son of the former
\nfootball star, who has also been accused of using his influence in order to
\nease his son’s access to the contracts. Gabriel \u0162u\u0163u has been facing charges of
\nabuse of office with aggravating circumstances, influence peddling and forgery.
\nAccording to prosecutors, against the Covid-19 pandemic between March 2020 and
\nSeptember 2021, Gabriel \u0162u\u0163u, as director general of Romarm, would have
\nconcluded with a series of companies, including one belonging to the other
\nperson presently under investigation, two public procurement contracts that eventually
\nproved to be disadvantageous for the company he was leading. The contracts were
\nfor buying of seven pieces of equipment used in the production of masks, but the
\nmachines purchased failed to meet the production standards. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The transactions concluded eventually
\nresulted in a prejudice of 1.7 million euros for the state-owned company Romarm.
\nAccording to prosecutors, \u0162u\u0163u would have asked the companies involved in the
\naforementioned procurement transactions to conclude consultancy contracts with
\none of his friends, who wasn’t actually involved in the real trade activities
\nunder the aforementioned contract.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The suspect insinuated that he had
\ninfluence over Defence Ministry employees and was able to influence their
\ngranting of contracts. \u0162u\u0163u has allegedly received the sum of 10 thousand Euros through a
\nmiddleman. We recall that selector Piturca had already received a one-year
\nsuspended prison sentence for perjury. Piturca is the goal-getter of the
\nlegendary football side Steaua Bucharest with which he won back in late 80s the
\nEuropean Champions Cup and Europe’s Supercup. He was also a reputed football
\ncoach whose prize closet includes numerous trophies he won with the clubs he
\ncoached and had a considerable hand in the qualification of the Romanian
\nnational squad for two major European tournaments. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
(bill)<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The former Romanian football star and coach Victor Pi\u0163urc\u0103 is under investigation in a corruption file<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":94399,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[35761,28950,34845,35776,35416,40783,37357,40782],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-94398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-charges","tag-corruption","tag-gabriel","tag-masks","tag-pandemic","tag-piturca","tag-romarm","tag-tutu"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n