Jail sentence for Romanian media mogul Dan Diaconescu

Newsroom 18/12/2013 | 15:29

A Bucharest-based court handed down a three year jail sentence to Dan Diaconescu, a media owner and politician, alleging the businessperson used his TV station OTV to blackmail a mayor, reports Agerpres newswire.

Two persons, who had their talk shows at the same TV stations, received jail sentences of three years and two and a half years, respectively for blackmail. The court’s decision can be appealed.

The court has also seized assets worth EUR 44,500 and RON 42,000 (EUR 9,385) from Diaconescu, on the account of damages.

Prosecutors claimed Diaconescu used his TV station along with one of his employees to threaten a mayor of a locality in Arad County to pay him EUR 200,000. The mayor caved in and paid EUR 30,000 and RON 42,000 (EUR 9,385) to one of his accomplices.

Diaconescu has used his media clout to prop up his extreme left-wing party PPDD, which won some seats in Parliament in last year’s elections.

According to media reports, Diaconescu’s net worth is EUR 8 million. He was able to reopen OTV later this year, claiming it was broadcasting from the Vatican. The businessperson made headlines last year, after crashing the privatization of Oltchim, the state-owned petrochemical plant.

Diaconescu placed the winning bid but failed to pay EUR 45 million due to contractual disagreements. He later alleged that authorities refused to get his money for the ailing plant, which filed for insolvency shortly after.