Sebastian Ghita, acquitted in the file where he is charged with bribing ex-Ploiesti mayor
Romania’s Supreme Court has acquitted former deputy and businessman Sebastian Ghita in the trial where he is investigated for bribery, abetment in abuse of office and money laundering, next to former mayor of Ploiesti, Iulian Badescu. The former mayor, tried for bribe taking and abuse of office was also acquitted. The ruling is not final.
The magistrates with the High Court of Cassation and Justice have acquitted the former Social Democrat deputy and the former Ploiesti mayor, although prosecutors have asked for maximum sentences for both defendants during the last hearing.
Investigators claimed that Sebastian Ghita would have given ex-mayor Badescu a building as bribe so that the latter should finance a sport association supported by Ghita. In order to hide the house’s origin, the two have signed a fictitious contract.
Prosecutors have also found out that Ghita has assigned his shares owned as majority stockholder at Asesoft International to an offshore company from Cyprus, which was in fact totally owned by him.
After he was elected as deputy, Ghita has given up the companies that he had set up and run before being MP, but he continued however to control their activity through relatives and friends.