Romania: senior banker detained in corruption probe

BUCHAREST:

The deputy governor of Romania’s central bank has been detained on suspicion that he engaged in influencepeddling, illicitly receiving 1 million Euros ($1.1 million) when he was parliament speaker, anti -corruption prosecutors said yesterday.

Prosecutors said Bogdan Olteanu had been detained amid an investigation into allegations he asked for and received the money from a businessman from July-November 2008 in return for persuading the government to appoint a certain governor for the Danube Delta.

A court will rule later whether to arrest him. The central bank said Olteanu’s duties would be taken over by other officials. There was no immediate reaction from Olteanu.

The businessman, Sorin Ovidiu Vantu, was sentenced last week to six years and two months in prison for money-laundering and embezzlement. Journalist Liviu Mihaiu, who worked for a publication owned by Vantu, was governor of the delta from September 2008 to February 2009. Shortly after he was appointed, Mihaiu authorized gas stations in the delta for Petromservice, a petroleum-facility maintenance company controlled by Vantu. Yesterday, Mihaiu denied wrongdoing.

Olteanu was appointed deputy governor of the National Bank of Romania in 2009. He was speaker of the Chamber of Deputies from 2006 to 2008. —AP