Social Democeat MEP Claudiu Manda, former chairman of PSD Dolj, and husband of Craiova mayor Olguta Vasilescu, has been prosecuted by the National Anti-corruption Directorate (DNA) for using his political influence upon the manager of the Dolj County Agency for Payments and Social Inspection, to wipe out the debts of certain people who had been illegally receiving social benefits.
Prosecutors say that Manda would have intervened upon the manager of the payment agency, who was his party fellow, to stop the foreclosure of almost 60 social aid beneficiaries from Bratovoesti village, who had illegally cashed in money from social benefits. Manda would have acted this way to obtain in exchange the villagers’ votes.
Marius Nicolae Simcelescu, the manager of Dolj County Agency for Payments and Social Inspection (AJPIS) at that time has been also prosecuted in the same file for abuse of office with obtaining undue benefits for others.
As a consequence, Dolj AJPIS was prejudiced by RON 315,850, representing unrecovered money from 59 people who had illegally cashed in the social benefits.
In a Facebook post, Manda claimed he had been surprised by DNA’s prosecuting him, accusing that his file was instrumented by a controversial prosecutor Jean Uncheselu just based on the statement of one political foe.