Romanian anti-corruption prosecutors have allegedly caught former Health Minister Sorina Pintea red-handed taking a bribe exchange for an acquisition of medical equipment, media reported.
Prosecutors intercepted Pintea, who is the manager of the Baia Mare County Emergency Hospital, on Friday as she took the alleged bribe in her office, chief anti-corruption prosecutor Crin Bologa told Hotnews.
Media quoted sources saying that 120,000 lei was found in Pintea’s office. Prosecutors searched her office and took away documents.
Hotnews reported that Pintea would be brought to Bucharest for questioning.
When she was minister, Pintea sent a team of undercover detectives to Romanian hospitals last year to check out whether medics and nurses are demanding or accepting bribes.
The project was part of an anti-corruption drive launched to crack down on kickbacks in the country’s hospitals. Pintea said that 14 people had been hired to vet the health system.
Pintea was health minister for the Social Democrat-led government from January 2018 to October 2019. The government was ousted after it lost a no-confidence vote in Parliament.
