Ex-chamber speaker Valeriu Zgonea, under judicial control in corruption file

Former speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Valeriu Zgonea was placed under judicial control on Wednesday by the anti-corruption prosecutors in Ploiesti in a file where he is prosecuted for influence peddling.

Prosecutors say that a former county councilman at the Buzau County council during June 2004-December 2013, businessman Daniel Dobrica, is prosecuted in the same file for influence peddling.

Investigators claim that starting with July 2012, Dumitru Dobrica promised Valeriu Zgonea and the latter accepted undue benefits in exchange of Zgonea’s intervention upon some public servants whom he allegedly had any influence upon, in order to appoint one of the councilman’s relatives in an important public position.

Sources close to the investigation revealed that the person that was to be appointed on the public position is the businessman’s daughter.

“On April 22, 2013, following Valeriu Zgonea’s demarches, the person was named as president of the National Management Centre for Information Society within the Informational Society Ministry, although the persons had no specialized training in that field. (…) Subsequently, also following Zgonea’s interventions- that person kept a position in the central public administration, being appointed as under secretary of state at the Communications Ministry on January 23, 2014,” prosecutors say.

Investigators say that Zgonea received undue benefits worth RON 52,000 from Dobrica, representing the counter value of a four-day trip to Vienna during May 16-19, 2013 and other expenses to build a house in Covasna county.

During judicial control, the former speaker of the lower chamber is facing some restrictions pending trial, and he is banned from leaving the country without the prosecutor/judge’s previous consent.

In April last year, Valeriu Zgonea was ousted from the Social Democrat Party following criticism against chairman Liviu Dragnea. In June he was recalled from the chamber speaker’s position.