The chief of a Romanian intelligence service, arrested for corruption

Cornel Şerban, chief of the Directorate General of Information and Internal Protection (DGIPI), Petru Pitcovici from the Anti-Corruption General Directorate (DGA), Ioan Alecu, ex-rector of the Bucharest University of Agronomy, and the businessman Gabriel Popoviciu were arrested for 24 hours and this evening will start the judgment of the three persons by the Bucharest Court of Appeal to decide if the arrest will be extended.

Direcţia Generală de Informaţii şi Protecţie Internă (General Directorate for Intelligence and Internal Security, DGIPI) is the criminal intelligence agency of the Romanian Ministry of Interior and Administrative Reform, and Direcţia Generală Anticorupţie (Anti-Corruption General Directorate, DGA) is an agency subordinated to the Romanian Ministry of Interior and Administrative Reform, tasked with preventing and investigating the corruption offenses, the criminal acts and misconduct among the personnel of the Ministry.

Cornel Şerban and Petru Pitcovici are accused that they tried to influence a judiciary policeman within the Anti-Corruption National Direction. The policeman had to close a dossier of the businessman Puiu Popoviciu, for $20,000 and a future function within the Ministry of Administration and Interior.

Ion Alecu helped Gabriel Popoviciu to obtain 230 ha of land in a residential area of Bucharest (Baneasa) from the Bucharest University of Agronomy, with a much smaller price, where was started Băneasa Project, one of the largest projects of mix use development in Souht Eastern Europe, with over 1 million m2 of construction area, used for different purposes, spanning across 221 ha of land, an open and spacious residential area, a modern business park, and one of the largest commercial areas in Romania.

Băneasa Project

UPDATE: The Court of Appeal decided that they will be set at liberty, but with an interdiction to leave the country.