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Second person detained in Dumitru Buzatu case: expert who received 714,000 RON in bribes
An expert who allegedly received 714,000 RON from the businessman who also bribed the president of Vaslui County Council (CJ), Dumitru Buzatu, was detained during the weekend by the National Anti-corruption Directorate (DNA) prosecutors, told Agerpres.
According to DNA, the man is accused of bribery and influence peddling.
Prosecutors allege that in 2019, in the context of the implementation of a project financed by European funds, a public procurement contract was concluded between Vaslui County Council and a commercial company, which had as its object the rehabilitation and modernization of roads in Vaslui County.
During 2021, when the works were 80 percent completed, there were disagreements between the representative of the company (witness in the case) and the President of Vaslui County Council, Dumitru Buzatu, regarding the payment of the invoices (about 3,000,000 euros) and the amount of the bribe to be paid to the latter.
In this context, the Vaslui CJ concluded a contract with a commercial company (whose object of activity is to carry out engineering and technical consultancy activities) managed by the man detained on Saturday, to conduct a technical expertise of the executed works.
"After drawing up the expert report (in which data were included that did not correspond to the reality in the field), on 22.06.2022, respectively between 07 - 15.02.2023, the expert allegedly demanded from the businessman the amount of 714. 000 RON in order to formulate conclusions contrary to the expert's own opinion based on the contract concluded with CJ Vaslui and implicitly to 'favour' the businessman's company (in the sense of having the invoices of about 3,000,000 euro owed to him as a result of the work having been carried out in accordance with the specifications paid in full). In addition, for the sum of money claimed, the expert would also have promised the businessman that he would intervene with the decision-makers within the CJ Vaslui and that he would make them pay the invoices issued by the businessman's company for the work carried out. In the context mentioned above, the expert received on 02.03.2023 and 27.04.2023 the total amount of 714.000 RON. After the remittance of the above amount, the defendant would have submitted to CJ Vaslui the technical documentation on the adaptation of the conclusions of the technical expertise for the works carried out by the witness's company, which was received and accepted by the decision-makers within the public institution, including the defendant Buzatu Dumitru," prosecutors say.
The detained expert is to be presented to the Vaslui court on Sunday with a proposal for preventive arrest for 30 days.
