Businessman Vladimir Ciorbă and his wife, Laura Vicol, have been released from pretrial detention in the Nordis case, according to a decision taken on Friday by the Supreme Court, which accepted their appeals. The magistrates decided that Vladimir Ciorbă will be placed under judicial control, while the former PSD deputy will be investigated at liberty.
The decision of the High Court of Cassation and Justice is final.
The Supreme Court overturned the decision of the Bucharest Court of Appeal, which had ordered the preventive arrest of the Vicol-Ciorbă couple, as well as the three Poștoacă brothers, and ordered their immediate release.
In total, 11 people are being investigated in the Nordis case, along with Vicol and Ciorbă. Thus, no restrictive measures were taken in the case of Laura Vicol, while the Nordis owner will be placed under judicial control for 60 days. Gheorge Poștoacă, Nicolae Poștoacă and Florin Poștoacă were also placed under judicial control for 60 days.
Vladimir Ciorbă and the Poștoacă brothers have several prohibitions imposed by the court: not to exceed the territorial limits of Romania, except with the prior approval of the judicial body; to permanently wear an electronic surveillance device and to periodically communicate relevant information about their means of existence.
The Bucharest Court of Appeal justifies the decision to pre-trial detention in the case of Laura Vicol and Vladimir Ciorbă as a “drastic measure”, and “the defendants have no respect for any legal norm or consideration for the obstacles that appear in their way, having no problem committing serious crimes without any fear of the repercussions that will arise from committing these acts.”
The CAB also stated that the individuals investigated in the Nordis case acted with “absolutely extraordinary audacity”.
“The judge of rights and freedoms within the Court thus considers that, through the manner in which the acts were committed, a total lack of respect and fear of the legal repercussions derived from their commission is shown, the defendants acting with absolute extraordinary audacity”, the reasoning published by the cited source states.
The court also considers that releasing the two defendants in the case would encourage “other individuals to commit similar acts, being at the same time likely to induce a state of insecurity among citizens, especially since the alleged illicit activities of the NORDIS group have been intensely debated publicly in recent times, and the number of victims is particularly high”.
Laura Vicol and Vladimir Ciorbă were pre-arrested on February 4, following a decision by the Bucharest Court of Appeal.
Laura Vicol and Vladimir Ciorbă are accused of embezzling tens of millions of euros from Nordis group companies and spending the money on vacations, private jet trips, purchases of goods and luxury cars. The amounts withdrawn came from damaged clients, who paid for apartments they never received.