Searches conducted at the Guarantee Fund, bribes for speeding up ‘First Home’ files

Large scale searches were conducted Thursday morning at the Loan Guarantee Fund (FNGCIMM), the institution that oversees and approves the ‘First Home’ real estate loan files, but also state-guaranteed loans to SMEs. Eight people will be charged, and 60 will be heard as witnesses. According to Realitatea TV private broadcaster sources, the bribes for a positive opinion vary between EUR 200 and EUR 500.

In a file at the Prosecutor’s Office upon the High Court of Cassation and Justice, under the coordination of prosecutors with the Criminal Investigation and Forensics Section, the police officers with the Directorate for Economic Crime Investigation have implemented 23 home search warrants in Bucharest and Ilfov County, at an institution of public interest, at the offices and residences of several employees investigated for corruption offenses, an official communiqué informs.

From the evidence used so far it has been established that the investigated persons are used to condition the speeding up of documents in their duty of receiving money, realitatea.net reports.

Hence, the order of registration of applications is not respected, equal opportunities are not granted and the free access of the beneficiaries in good faith is violated, the winners being only those who become ‘priorities’ of the employees in exchange for the amounts of money given as reward. 8 mandates on the suspects will be issued, and about 60 witnesses will be heard.

At the same time, with the support of the National Agency for Fiscal Administration (ANAF) specialists – the General Anti-Fraud Directorate, tax inspections and specialized checks will be carried out at a commercial company owned by one of the investigated employees and aiming to determine the financial flows related to the illegally obtained money by the persons involved in the criminal mechanism.

These actions also aim a non-commissioned officer with a military unit in Bucharest, the investigations being conducted separately by the prosecutors with the Military Prosecutor’s Office upon the Bucharest Military Court.

A communiqué from the Guarantee Fund announces that the operation is part of a complex investigation, a period of several years being targeted.

FNGCIMM customers and partners are assured that ongoing projects and programmes will run according to established schedules, without affecting the current and future work of the institution.