Investigators descended on the home of Radu Pally, Călin Georgescu’s campaign manager, on Tuesday, accusing the former presidential candidate of an act of intimidation.
In a message posted on Facebook, Călin Georgescu “imperatively” demands “to stop this abuse”.
“The Predoiu militiaman and some prosecutors sent this morning masked men to the home of my campaign manager, Radu Pally. I imperatively demand to stop this abuse – you cannot intimidate us – we cannot be brought to our knees!”, Călin Georgescu accused.
The General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police reported that the searches are taking place in a criminal case, “under the coordination of the competent prosecution unit and in compliance with the legal framework in force.”
However, the police do not specify which crimes are targeted. “In fact, all the activities of our institution, within all criminal cases, are carried out under the coordination of the prosecution units and under the authority of the case prosecutors, with the aim of finding the truth. We reject and disavow any unfounded accusation of politicizing the professional act of the police. We remind you that the criminal investigation activity of the judicial police is non-public in nature and is carried out under the authority of the competent prosecution units, the hierarchical heads of the police officers not having the authority to issue orders regarding the performance of criminal investigation acts. “We reiterate that all staff of our institution carry out their activities with professionalism, impartiality, equidistance and political neutrality,” the Police said in a press release.
“The case referred to by the former presidential candidate is under investigation and we cannot provide any additional information at this time,” the Prosecutor’s General Office also retorted.
Who is Radu Pally
According to the Argeș press, Radu Pally and his wife, Crenguța, are former journalists who became Călin Georgescu’s campaign managers. The Marker&Senzzo Media company, founded by Crenguța Pally, produced the electoral campaign advertising video for Georgescu.
The video was broadcast on B1 TV in the fall, and in January 2025, the Permanent Electoral Authority announced that it was conducting checks on the subject. In the video, the former presidential candidate swims, runs, appears riding a white horse and is surrounded by many young people.
According to the Radio Free Europe website, the company Marker&Senzzo Media had a turnover of 431,000 lei and a profit of almost 254,000 lei in 2023.
The same Crenguța Pally is also associated in a company, Metro Media & Communications, together with her husband, Radu Pally. The electoral advertising clip ran on B1TV on October 29, 2024, in a free electoral advertising clip.
Călin Georgescu declared zero lei spent in the electoral campaign to the AEP. The Permanent Electoral Authority announced that it is verifying the production of this video clip.
Georgescu-founded association and ex-intelligence officer also raided
Several searches were carried out on Tuesday at the homes of Călin Georgescu’s relatives. Investigators also arrived at the headquarters of the “Pamant Stramosesc/Ancestral Land” Association, an organization founded by Georgescu and a former officer in the Army’s intelligence service.
The announcement regarding the searches at the headquarters of the “Ancestral Land” Association was made by Călin Georgescu himself. In addition to the Association’s headquarters, investigators also raided Georgescu’s campaign managers. “We want Good and they want Evil. The same thing (the searches) happened at the headquarters of the “Ancestral Land” Association, also this morning,” Călin Georgescu wrote on Facebook on Tuesday.
The Ancestral Land Association, named after a legionnaire magazine that circulated during the interwar period, was founded in 2021 by Călin Georgescu, along with a former parliamentary candidate from AUR and a former army secret service officer, as evidenced by an official document received by Digi24.ro from the Ministry of Justice.
The Association’s objectives include several concepts, including “dissemination of knowledge related to distributist theory and practice” or “dissemination of knowledge related to alternative socio-economic models (peer to peer, open source, blockchain)”.
The Ancestral Land Association, on the facade, claims to promote the “small producer” and the “identity of the nation”, but has constantly brought Călin Georgescu to the forefront in recent years.
The Ancestral Land has also promoted his program “Water. Food. Energy”. “Let him who believes unlimitedly in Jesus Christ and the Country come to us”, is a poster in which Călin Georgescu is presented as “president”, published on Facebook on July 20, 2024.
The Ancestral Earth Association also has a platform that claims to connect local producers with those who want to support the local economy. During the 2024 presidential elections, there was nothing for sale on that site, but on March 1, 2024, several products were being sold, such as carrots (4 lei), the Brandușa hoodie (850 lei), the Scufița hoodie (750 lei), the Cosânzeana hoodie (1,100 lei), the Mandala (400 lei), chicken eggs (1.50 lei), and semi-precious crystal trees (300 lei).
One of the founders of the Association, along with Călin Georgescu, is Bogdan Vacusta. He appeared alongside Călin Georgescu in the photos published last November.
The Ministry of Defense emphasized since 2024, at the request of Digi24.ro, that Vacusta worked at the General Directorate of Defense Intelligence between 2002 and 2015. Details, here.
In the documents received by Digi24.ro, Vacusta still appeared in November 2024 in the leadership of the association as “development director”.
Currently, his name appears on several articles related to cryptocurrencies, including those taken over by a geopolitical magazine supported by the Romanian Academy. Cryptocurrencies are based on blockchain technology. The information received by Digi24.ro also indicates that he would have participated in conferences in the Russian Federation for several years.
Another founder of the Association, Ovidiu Hurduzeu, praised Călin Georgescu in 2019 for being a defender of “distributist concepts – for example, the spread of productive property” and that he would not use them for “opportunist-political” purposes.
Hurduzeu is a promoter of the distributist economic doctrine. The same Ovidiu Hurduzeu recalled that “Corneliu Zelea Codreanu’s legionaries also had a distributist economic doctrine”.
About Georgescu’s connections with the legionaries, Digi24.ro wrote extensively here and here.
The economic doctrine is based on the principle of the spread of productive property, decentralization and keeping activities at the lowest level at which solidarity can also function.
Hurduzeu was an AUR candidate for the Senate in Ilfov in 2020, but failed to obtain a seat in Parliament, although he was presented as one of the party’s ideologists. He motivated his candidacy by stating that he “fights against the forces of darkness”.
According to media reports, he is considered a “favorite” of Sputnik, the main propaganda organ of the Russian Federation in Romania. At the same time, Hurduzeu expressed concern about the fate of Putin, during the protests triggered after the arrest of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny (who died while in custody). Hurduzeu was also the leader of a far-right party and has also said in public that young people studying in Europe on Erasmus scholarships should be “re-educated”.