Six people have been detained by DIICOT in a treason case, according to a statement from the institution. Prosecutors allege that they were in contact with foreign agents and negotiated, including in Moscow, Romania’s withdrawal from NATO, the removal of constitutional order, the dissolution of parties, the installation of a new government, the removal of employees from state institutions, the adoption of a new constitution, the change of the country’s name, flag and anthem.
The group was organized as a military structure, and the file also targets retired Major General Radu Theodoru.
The six men detained by DIICOT for treason are Ștefan Mateescu, Adrian-Robertin Dinu, Radu-Pompiliu Șofran, Raul-Mihail Lupu, Georgică-Cristian Atitiene, Marius Semeniuc. They were regular customers at events of the Russian embassy in Bucharest
According to the Romanian Police and DIICOT, on March 5, prosecutors decided to detain 6 people, investigated for the establishment of an organized criminal group and treason.
One of those targeted in the case is retired general Radu Theodoru, aged 101, judicial sources told HotNews.ro, but he was not detained.
The evidence in the case revealed that, starting in 2023, five of the individuals, together with another person under investigation, had formed an organized criminal group with the aim of undermining the sovereignty and independence of the Romanian state by politically undermining the country’s defense capacity, according to prosecutors.
They claim that starting last year, another person had joined the organized crime group, with all members “carrying out continuous, conscious, public or conspiratorial actions, in order to achieve the intended purpose.”
Also, the members of the criminal group would have repeatedly contacted agents of a foreign power, located both on the territory of Romania and the Russian Federation. The organized crime group would have been established under the cover of an organization and would have developed in the form of a military-type structure, with management echelons (staff) and execution personnel, represented by the image of the person under investigation in question, a retired major general.
The research also showed that the members of the organized criminal group, through online platforms, would have recruited followers and published video materials (notifications addressed to the Romanian state authorities, national and international organizations).
The individuals in question are also accused of having taken steps to conduct negotiations with external political-military factors regarding Romania’s withdrawal from the military alliance to which it is a party (NATO), for the removal of the current constitutional order, the dissolution of political parties, the installation of a new government formed by members of the organization who will hold ministerial positions, the removal of all employees from state institutions, the adoption of a new constitution, the change of the country’s name, flag and anthem. Also, during January, two of the individuals are said to have traveled to Moscow, where they are said to have come into contact with individuals willing to support the organization’s efforts regarding the takeover of state power in Romania.
On Wednesday, March 5, 8 home search warrants were implemented in Bucharest and in Ilfov, Giurgiu and Maramureș counties, and several pieces of evidence were discovered and seized. Also on Wednesday, prosecutors of the Directorate for the Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism – Central Structure ordered the detention of the 6 people.
On Thursday, the judge of rights and freedoms of the Bucharest Court of Appeal is to be notified with a proposal for preventive arrest of 4 of the individuals and house arrest for two others. The investigations targeting the person under investigation whose image was used in the case are continuing, without preventive measures being ordered. The support was provided by the police officers of the Counterintelligence and Military Security Directorate of the General Directorate of Defense Intelligence, specialists of the Romanian Intelligence Service and the General Directorate of Internal Protection of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
The organization targeted for treason is the “Vlad Țepeș” Command
The six people detained by DIICOT for treason and connections with Russian agents are members of the organization “Vlad Țepeș” Command, according to judicial sources quoted by mass media.
The “Vlad Țepeș” command, which includes the six people detained by DIICOT on charges of treason, was founded in 2021 by Robertin Dinu and uses the image of retired general Radu Theodoru, whom he describes as the head of the General Staff. According to the official website, they campaign for “the establishment of Geția, a country to be led by 9 ministries”. “The Americans will do a little cleaning in the coming months! After, the Russians will finish. Don’t be afraid, everyone is falling! ORi Ei, ORi NOi“, is one of the messages sent by a founder of the organization, Robertin Dinu, one of the six detained by prosecutors,
On the organization’s website, the head of the “Command Staff” is retired Major General Radu Theodoru, aged 101, who is also targeted in the case. Radu Theodoru is a suspect in the case.
A day ago, prosecutors searched his home in the village of Grădiștea, Comana commune, Giurgiu, the purpose being “to find the telephone terminals through which the suspects made calls and other means of evidence, namely laptops, PC systems, data storage media and documents”.
Through various “communicates”, “memorandums” and “notifications”, the organization calls for Romania’s exit from NATO, the resumption of economic and cultural relations with Russia, China and Iran, but also a new leadership structure for Romania through the “Getia” project, led by the “Council of the Wise”.
Who is Radu Theodoru?
Radu Theodoru, a member of an organization called the “Vlad Țepeș” Command, is also supporter of Călin Georgescu, with radical anti-EU and anti-NATO views, who believes that NATO soldiers present in Romania represent occupation troops.
Radu Theodoru was born on January 17, 1924, in the town of Ineu, Arad County, and after attending the Bucharest Higher Military Aviation School (1943-1945) and the Special Aviation School (1945-1946), he became a fighter pilot in the 1st Fighter Flotilla Bucharest, fighter squadron commander and flight instructor at the 3rd Fighter Regiment Târgșor (1949-1950), company commander and specialist teacher at the Sibiu Technical Aviation Officers School (1950-1951), according to the publication Glasul Cetății.
The same source also writes that Theodoru fought on the front after August 23, 1944, while he was a student at the Bucharest Aviation Officers School.“I was a student sergeant, group commander. All of us from the school took about 300-350 German prisoners of all weapons.We were lucky that an SS sniper didn’t mess with us, so we had the chance not to fight with specialized German troops, but with rearguard formations”, declared Radu Theodoru, according to the mentioned publication.
He is a war veteran and was decorated with the Medal “Commemorative Cross of the Second World War, 1941-1945”.
Three years ago, Gen. Radu Theodoru signed, together with several military personnel in reserve, but also Eugen Sechila, a mercenary in the Foreign Legion and lieutenant of Călin Georgescu, an open letter to former President Klaus Iohannis and former Prime Minister Florin Cîțu, in which they accused them of working “against the national interest”. “Give up the globalist-neo-Marxist agenda and stop being enemies of the Romanian people!”, the signatories of the letter demanded.
Radu Theodoru is also a supporter of Călin Georgescu, whom he considers “president-elect”, and in a video clip recorded on January 2, he asked for him to be recognized as such, and for former president Klaus Iohannis to hand over power to him.
Radu Theodoru was also among the founders of the Greater Romania Party.
SRI: Russian diplomats declared undesirable were helping the six Romanians accused of treason
The two diplomats from the Embassy of the Russian Federation, namely the Russian military attaché in Bucharest and his deputy, declared undesirable by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, were helping the six Romanians who were allegedly planning a coup, according to a statement sent by the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI).
The Romanian Intelligence Service indicates that the six Romanians investigated for treason organized themselves in 2023 into a paramilitary group and carried out “subversive actions of an instigative nature with the aim of influencing the socio-political life in our country”.
The SRI also mentions that the two Russian diplomats declared undesirable by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were helping the group. They are the Russian military attaché in Bucharest, Alexander Chuprina, and his deputy, Evgheni Ignatiev.
“The two Russian diplomats carried out intelligence-gathering actions in areas of strategic interest and took actions to support the group’s anti-constitutional actions”, according to the SRI press release.