Elena Udrea arrived behind bars after being definitively convicted in the “Gala Bute” file, following the charges regarding the hijack of funds and influence trafficking, in the meantime, obtaining other criminal files.
Elena Udrea was convicted in the “Gala Butea” file. Photo: Mediafax
Elena Udrea, former Minister of Tourism at the time when the president was Traian Basescu, was sentenced to six years in prison in the “Gala Bute” file, after the prosecutors accused her of creating an influence system by which considerable money from several companies were obtained.
According to investigators, in exchange for money taken as bribe, contracts and payments made by the Ministry of Tourism were promised, led at that time by Elena Udrea. Thus, this money would have reached either Elena Udrea, or were directed to the PDL Bucharest or other persons involved in this file, including Rudel Obreja, the organizer of the Boxing Gala, who in the meantime died.
Although the authorities have tried to recover the damage, the Romanian state has not succeeded, so far, to recover the amount.
Paid in the file “Hidroelectrica”
While in prison following a definitive conviction, Elena Udrea continued to seek her freedom by various legal ways, including a request for the re -examination of the “Gala Bute” file from scratch in 2023, but it was rejected.
However, in June 2024, the former Minister of Tourism obtained an important legal victory: the High Court of Cassation and Justice decided to definitive cessation against him in the file “Hidoelectrica”, in which she was accused of trafficking in influence and money laundering.
In this file, Elena Udrea was suspected of receiving $ five million from businessman Bogdan Buzăianu to use her influence.
According to a DNA statement at that time, Elena Udrea would have accepted the promise made by businessman Bogdan Buzăianu, in 2011, to receive the sum of $ 5 million to exert her influence on the decision makers within the Ministry of Economy and Hidroelectrica, in order to maintain the company already, under the conditions of the company, the company had already been negotiated.
Recovery of damage
Returning to the file “Gala Butea”, Veronel Rădulescu, the lawyer of Elena Udrea, explained that from the damage of over 5.5 million lei established in this file, some of the money was recovered, mainly by capitalizing on the goods placed under seizure.
He said that about four million lei remained to be recovered, but Elena Udrea’s assets, valued at over 13 million lei, are still under seizure, and the way of capitalizing on ANAF and the state institutions.
The lawyer also stressed that the seizure on Elena Udrea’s goods dates back to 2015 and that the whole amount would be completely covered.
According to him, Udrea would have paid the “price” for the “Gala Bute” boxing gala, an event transmitted to hundreds of international televisions and considered beneficial for the image of Romania. Rădulescu claimed that Elena Udrea would not have personally learned any money, but was forced to pay the total costs of the event.
