Ex ANAF head Gelu Diaconu sent to court in abuse of office case

Former ANAF head Gelu Diaconu sent to court for abuse of office

Newsroom 21/06/2016 | 19:07

Former head of the National Agency for Fiscal Administration (ANAF) Gelu Diaconu was sent to court for abuse of office. Diaconu was prosecuted in February for his role in a corruption case involving EU funds and was subsequently removed from his position by PM Dacian Ciolos.

Upon exiting the headquarters of the National Anti-corruption Directorate (DNA), Diaconu said he is not familiar with the content of the file, as he did not request the services of a lawyer at this stage. According to Diaconu, the content of the file will be made public once it reaches the court.

DNA prosecutors started investigating the former ANAF head in February in a case that also involved ANAF vice-president Mihai Gogancea-Vatasoiu as well as MPs Madalin Voicu and Nicolae Paun.

According to DNA prosecutors, Diaconu and Vatasoiu issued two orders for the exemption of healthcare contributions by people who were fictitiously employed by the Association Partida Romilor Pro Europa, an organization working towards facilitating the integration of Roma on the local labour market. The association had received public funds to employ people by means of civil conventions.

”We are talking about the status of 4,500,000 taxpayers, those with small or no income, Romania’s poor. In this category we had those who are the subject of investigations by the Prosecutor’s office. I am accused of having issued that order to suspend the issuing or enforcement of debt securities and not of canceling the obligation, with due date December 2017, that I allegedly did with the purpose of exempting those from The Party of the Roma (Partida Romilor) or the criminal group from paying the RON 468,” Diaconu said upon leaving the DNA headquarters.