The Tel Drum file, in which PSD Chairman Liviu Dragnea is prosecuted by the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA), includes the fraud amounting to EUR 21 million, European money to be paid by the Romanian state.
In 2016, the European Commission, upon the notification from the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), requested Romania to apply financial corrections, which were accepted by the state, ziare.com informs.
“The Commission received the OLAF recommendations regarding the cases mentioned by you in 2016. According to these recommendations, the Commissions’ services requested Romania to apply the necessary corrections so that the EU budget is not affected. Romania agreed to apply the corrections. We have a sound system to combat fraud, in close collaboration with the Member States. This case shows that the system is working,” a European Commission spokesman has told hotnews.ro on Tuesday.
Thus, the fraud signalled by OLAF in the Tel Drum case, worth EUR 21 million, will be covered by the Romanian state from the tax-payers’ money, the source added.
Former Minister for European Funds, Cristian Ghinea, said for ziare.com: “There may be several project corrections, as it seems to be in the Tel Drum case, in which a certain project is suspected of fraud, then the entire value of the project will not be funded by Brussels. If the money was requested from Brussels, they will not be funded. If the money was not requested, the request for reimbursement will not be accepted. Correction means that the Romanian state, from the state budget – meaning us all – will cover the fraud. The EU will not pay this money,” Ghinea said.