A Romanian court has sentenced the former parliament speaker Bogdan Olteanu to seven years in prison on charges that he accepted 1 million euros in 2008 to influence the government over a key appointment.
The Bucharest Court also ordered Olteanu to pay back the 1 million euros. The ruling is not final.
Tuesday’s sentencing comes after anti-graft prosecutors in October asked the Bucharest Court to give him the maximum penalty of 10 years on charges of influence peddling.
The court said Olteanu, a senior member of the ruling Liberal Party at the time, had requested and received the money from media mogul Sorin Ovidiu Vantu from July to November 2008 as payment to persuade the government to appoint Liviu Mihaiu, a journalist, who worked for one of Vantu’s companies as administrator of the Danube Delta national park.
Mihaiu was appointed in September 2008 and held the post for five months. He is not charged in the case and says he didn’t know about the bribe.
Olteanu. now 48, was speaker of the Chamber of Deputies from March 2006 to December 2008.
According to anti-corruption prosecutors, the money was transferred from an account in Cyprus to the Bulgarian account of a company registered in the U.S and withdrawn in cash on three consecutive days.
The money was later sent to Olteanu’s office at the Liberal Party headquarters, at Vantu’s request. Vantu also provided free services to Olteanu to help him with his electoral campaign in 2008, when he ran for a seat in the Parliament.
Olteanu was then appointed deputy governor of the central bank but resigned in 2016 after he swas arrested and charged with taking the bribe. Vantu, who is serving a prison sentence in another case, has admitted paying the bribe.
Olteanu was an ally of then Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu who has denied knowledge of the case.
Romania is the fourth most corrupt member of the European Union after Hungary, Greece and Bulgaria according to Transparency International monitoring,
Brussels keeps its justice system under special monitoring.
Prosecutors have investigated and secured convictions against thousands of lawmakers, ministers, businessmen and senior officials.
