Romanian prosecutors seize Călin Georgescu’s bank accounts in fraud case

Prosecutors with the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) announced on Wednesday, October 7, that they had seized several bank accounts opened in Călin Georgescu’s name.

It is not yet clear how many bank accounts were seized, but Digi24 sources referred to seven accounts holding roughly EUR 100,000.

Georgescu, 64, is being investigated for setting up an organized criminal group and fraud with particularly serious consequences, in continued form. The damage in the case in which he was placed in preventive custody for 30 days amounts to EUR 1.1 million.

The same day, prosecutors continued searching through Georgescu’s electronic devices.

The wife of the former presidential candidate, Cristela Georgescu, also arrived at DIICOT headquarters for the second consecutive day. During the first day, she complained about “the brutal way in which the house was entered,” as well as the way her father was treated by investigators.

In addition, she spoke about “the humiliating and traumatizing way in which Călin was handcuffed, taken from traffic, without him posing a danger.” She added that the case represents political persecution.

On Monday, October 5, Georgescu’s father-in-law, Vasile Moldoveanu, also arrived at the DIICOT center to be questioned as a witness in the fraud case.

Meanwhile, several hundred of Georgescu’s supporters have been camped out before the Central Arrest in Bucharest since September 29, when he was taken into custody.

According to investigators, in September 2021, Georgescu, businessman Ionel Rusen and an Italian citizen formed an organized criminal group that acted in a coordinated manner mainly in Romania, but also in the United Kingdom “for the purpose of obtaining unjust patrimonial benefits.”

The evidence gathered so far showed that starting in September 2021, during meetings organized in Bucharest and Argeș County, and subsequently in the United Kingdom, the members of the organized criminal group misled an injured party into believing that they could obtain EUR 6 million in financing by concluding a loan agreement with a banking institution, subject to the provision of collateral. Under these circumstances, the perpetrators caused the victim to transfer more than EUR 1 million.