Businessman Sebastian Ghita named on most wanted list of Romanian police

Newsroom 06/01/2017 | 08:05

The controversial businessman and politician Sebastian Ghita, who has been missing for close to three weeks, has been included on the list of most sought fugitives in Romania and the police forces are trying to find him.

He was included on this list shortly after judges at Romania’s High Court decided that Ghita can be placed in preventive arrest. The decision was taken although the former MP is still missing.

On Friday, the anti-graft prosecutors have asked Romania’s High Court to approve the issuance of an European arrest warrant for Ghita, alongside the international search operations.

Ghita is accused of having used secret information, bribery, influence buying, blackmail and for driving a vehicle without a license.

The businessman says he had a close relation with a SRI general

Meanwhile, the TV station Romania TV, founded by Ghita, broadcasted a new recording in which the businessman said that ex-PM Victor Ponta blackmailed by Florian Coldea, a general within the domestic intelligence service SRI, so as to appoint Laura Codruta Kovesi as head of the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA). Ghita added that his family went on holiday on numerous occasions with Coldea’s family.

sebastian ghita most wanted
Sebastian Ghita, on the most wanted list of Romanian police

 

In a separate tape, Ghita included a recording of former president Traian Basescu who claimed he had recordings with Coldea, Kovesi and judge Camelia Bogdan, who handed the 10-year jail sentence to media mogul Dan Voiculescu. Basescu said that the recording was not fake, but that it was heavily edited. Judge Bogdan said that she didn’t talk to anyone about Voiculescu’s case and that Ghita is attacking Romania’s rule of law.

Ghita claims that his news station Romania TV could be destroyed

In another recording, the businessman, who made a fortune with his IT empire, claimed that authorities were trying to get him behind bars and destroy his TV station, Romania TV. He added that all the investigations involving media owners in Romania were “rigged”.

He further stated that his firm Asesoft paid for the repatriation flight from Indonesia of Nicolae Popa, the former head of the Ponzi-scheme National Investment Fund (FNI), which went bust in the ‘90s. Popa is currently jailed in Romania.

Ghita has already been put on trial by the DNA in several corruption files and he is being investigated by anti-graft prosecutors in additional cases. He was MP between in the period 2012-2016 and was a member of the special Parliamentary committee that oversaw the activity of the SRI. His firms provided IT services to the intelligence and defence authorities in Romania. His brother’s firm has also worked for the state.

Ovidiu Posirca

BR Magazine | Latest Issue

Download PDF: Business Review Magazine March (II) 2024 Issue

The March (II) 2024 issue of Business Review Magazine is now available in digital format, featuring the main cover story titled “BAT DBS Romania Hub: A Vibrant New Office For An Employee-Centric
Newsroom | 27/03/2024 | 17:32
Advertisement Advertisement
Close ×

We use cookies for keeping our website reliable and secure, personalising content and ads, providing social media features and to analyse how our website is used.

Accept & continue