Corruption case shocks Romanian justice system

The seven-year prison sentence issued to former Romanian senator Catalin Voicu ended a four-year corruption trial that exposed an unprecedented ring of influence peddling among politicians, magistrates and businessmen, and has led to calls for heightened accountability of corrupt judges and prosecutors.

According to anti-corruption prosecutors, Voicu, a Social Democrat member of parliament from 2004-2012, a former presidential adviser and a retired and medaled protection service general, was the epicenter of an “octopus-like system” that infiltrated the justice sector.

Prosecutors say corrupt judges answered to orders from the former MP and worked to obtain favorable verdicts in a series of criminal cases.

The trial revealed that politicians and high-profile businessmen who were charged with influence peddling, complicity to trafficking, buying influence, respectively and document forgery asked Voicu to bury criminal files in exchange for large amounts of money.

A series of transcripts leaked to the Romanian media revealed conversations Voicu had with senior judges and police officers and how he manipulated state officials entrusted with criminal investigations to favor his customers.

“Voicu is the tip of the iceberg of corruption in the justice system, police and politics, a rare combination of immorality, blandishing and cowardice,” Cristina Guseth, director of Freedom House Romania, told SETimes. “He was the man through whom the big guys liquidated their files in return of big money by means of judges, prosecutors and policemen, the Gods of Romania, as he used to call his associates. By using a coded language replete with medical terms, Voicu was the doctor that cured his clients of prison.”

Two businessmen, Voicu’s customers, were convicted in the case, and one received a suspended prison sentence.

Florin Costiniu, a judge with the High Court of Justice and Cassation, who was among Voicu’s middlemen, was given a four-year suspended prison sentence. Costiniu’s wife, Viorica Costiniu, is a judge with the Court of Appeals in Bucharest. She was not charged in the case.

The involvement of a high-ranking judge spurred calls for a radical shakeup of the justice system and the adoption of a stricter disciplinary scheme for magistrates. Monica Macovei, a member of the European Parliament and former reformist justice minister, said Costiniu’s wife should be banned from trying corruption cases.

“As concerns Viorica Costiniu, there is not even an appearance of impartiality in trying corruption or fraud cases launched by the National Anti-corruption Department. Her husband has just been convicted for corruption …. It is immoral she still tries corruption cases,” Macovei told SETimes. “It is high time the Superior Magistrates Council passed a solution which can ensure trust in justice and judges’ impartiality.”

Macovei forwarded the Romanian Parliament a list of measures concerning the magistrates’ disciplinary accountability.

She suggests banning judges who are under criminal investigation from retiring until verdicts are passed, removing the right to receive a special pension for magistrates convicted of criminal acts, interdictions for judges whose spouses or close relatives are under criminal investigation to try cases launched by the same prosecutors’ office, and disciplinary sanctions for magistrates who fail to submit their wealth and interest statements or submit them inaccurately.

Last week, the ministry of justice announced plans to submit a draft law that calls for a thorough revision of the criteria for determining magistrates’ special pensions. The law would calculate pensions for magistrates who are found guilty of corruption based on the average income in Romania. Currently, magistrates’ pensions are based on their most recent salary, or their basic wage plus bonuses.

Florin Costiniu retired immediately after the criminal investigation was launched against him and receives a pension that is 10 times the average salary in Romania.

“There is a risk, by tolerating such situations, magistrates contribute to a decrease of trust in justice,” Macovei said. “The honest judges and prosecutors have to prove the public the Voicu network has ceased working.”

This content was commissioned for SETimes.com.