George Simion, the leader of Gold, asked for Dragoș Anastasiu’s resignation after the Deputy Prime Minister’s name appeared in a scandal related to an alleged bribe offered to an ANAF inspector to hide irregularities in his company.
George Simion Photo: Mediafax
“Is bribery (clearly confirmed) are European value?! One of the five deputy prime ministers, Dragoș Anastasiu, must leave urgently!“Said George Simion, the leader of Gold, in a Facebook post.
And Deputy Prime Minister Dragoș Anastasiu reacted on Friday, July 25, following the charges.
“In the public space, information appeared about my involvement in a corruption file that targeted several officials of ANAF. In short: in the file I was a witness, not a denouncer. There was no action against me, I had no legal advantage, and other companies that were in the same situation were involved in the file. I never had any criminal conviction ”, Anastasiu explained, between a Facebook post.
The investigation in which his name appeared revealed that during 2009-2017, the companies he owned have repeatedly offered an ANAF inspector. During the trial, Dragoș Anastasiu was heard as a witness and acknowledged the facts in all phases of the trial.
Anastasiu told the court that he had perceived the request as a blackmail and that he accepted the bribe to avoid closing the company and dismissing the employees. According to him, the ANAF official would have threatened a company manager that “will put his employer in prison“If it does not collaborate. The investigation was reported by the reality and confirmed by the decisions of the Bucharest Court of Appeal.
Dragoș Anastasiu detailed, on Facebook, the context of this file.
“Context: one known, unfortunately, by too many entrepreneurs, especially in those times 15-17 years ago. Some officials of the Romanian state who press and even blackmail the companies, «recommending» Consulting contract solutions with a company placed on the trainee tray to correct the so-called irregularities discovered as a result of the controls. When, being an entrepreneur, you manage several companies that, in turn, are run by managers, it is impossible to have up -to -date and detail about all the operations in progress. But when you have complete information, you must act correctly in the spirit of the law. This is what I did. I want more and more entrepreneurs to find the courage to never accept pressures of the type that many of us have been subjected to. I am today in the Government of Romania and because I do not want other Romanian anterners to be the subject of such abuse of power by some state employees who should work for the benefit of the people, not against them“, Added the Deputy Prime Minister.
