Romanian authorities on Monday conducted dozens of raids in Romania and Monaco, targeting 40 individuals and 32 companies linked to a high-profile real estate developer accused of defrauding investors of nearly two hundred millions of euros.
The operation, led by Romania’s Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT), concerns Nordis, a luxury real estate company accused of money laundering, tax evasion and fraudulent schemes that left buyers without properties they had paid for.
Police raided 63 locations across Bucharest and several counties in Romania, as well as two in Monaco, as part of the investigation.
Vladimir Ciorbă, a key shareholder in Nordis, who prosecutors accuse of masterminding a complex financial scheme that left investors empty handed and committed massive tax evasion was detained Monday evening, with his wife, Laura Vicol, a former lawmaker of the ruling Social Democratic Party.
Romania’s Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu has also been linked to the case due to his past political ties with the couple and the fact that he had traveled with them on private flights, including to Monaco.
Ciolacu has distanced himself, saying that he had not communicated with them in over two years.
Investigators claim Ciorbă and his associates allegedly duped buyers by amassing 957 million lei (€195 million) in down payments for properties that were either never completed or sold multiple times to different customers.
An estimated €2.4 million was allegedly siphoned off into personal accounts and used for luxury purchases and fraudulent transactions.
Ciorbă’s wife, who was a lawmaker from the ruling Social Democratic Party and previously headed the Legal Committee in the Chamber of Deputies, was forced to resign the position and left the party as the scandal engulfed the couple. She has denied wrongdoing, saying the accusations are politically motivated.
The case has also touched other politically-connected figures, including Ioana Băsescu, daughter of former President Traian Băsescu.
She has been charged with supporting the alleged organized crime group.
