The two ANAF inspectors trapped with false diplomas, paid definitively for deception. “They fulfilled their duties in good faith”

The Bucharest Court of Appeal has decided the definitive payment of the two ANAF inspectors discovered with false diplomas, motivating that they did not seek to deceive the institution, but to work. It is a precedent that can influence other similar files in the role of the courts, the lawyer Adrian Georgescu who represented the two inspectors said for Hotnews. The two ANAF inspectors, suspended from office at present, were sentenced only for use of false and received postponement.

• The two inspectors worked in the public system for over 20 years, carrying out their activity at ANAF, the Financial Guard, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Water. One of them was part of three years in the Control Body of the Minister of Finance, the data in the file shows.

The case of the two ANAF inspectors, of which Hotnews reported, was permanently resolved by the Bucharest Court of Appeal on June 18. The judges maintained the sentence of the first court, the District Court 5, which on December 17, last year, decided to pay the defendants for the crime of deception and their sentence to 6, respectively 8 months with the postponement of the application of the sentence, only for use of false. The decision of the substantive court was challenged by the Prosecutor's Office.

The prosecutors indicated in the grounds of appeal that the damage caused by the two inspectors is obvious by collecting undue salaries, following the employment based on the false diplomas.

The prosecutors requested the conviction of the inspectors and for the crime of deception and their obligation to return the salaries obtained as a result of the employment based on the false diplomas, but the judges of the Bucharest Court of Appeal have established that the accusation “has no support in a probative plan”.

“Important to emphasize is that the accusations do not aim to fulfill the duties of service during that period, but concern the abusive character of the position itself. Therefore, the imputed facts do not consist in the activity carried out or in its absence, but in the fact that the presence of the defendants in the respective functions would have been illegal, which would be done to all the payments.

The Court thinks that in criminal matters the court cannot retain the objective typicality of a deed only on the basis of a simple presumption that is capable of relying on a certain probability to commit one of the normative modalities of the crime that imputes to the defendant ”, wrote the judges of the Bucharest Court of Appeal in the reasoning of the sentence, consulted by Hotnew.ro.

They committed themselves with false diplomas but “did not seek to mislead”

The crime of deception, explains the magistrates, implies an action of misleading, which must result in the cause of a damage, that is, a material injury. Unlike the other offenses against heritage, in the case of deception, “the damage occurs by misleading the person by the perpetrator who wants, through various fraudulent maneuvers, to obtain an unfair material for himself or another.”

In this case, although the two ANAF inspectors presented for employment and subsequently for transfer falsified diplomas, the two courts (the District Court 5 and the Bucharest Court of Appeal) consider that they did not seek to mislead the employer.

“The Court notes that the first court correctly observed that, according to the evidence administered in this case, the defendants actually fulfilled their duties and responsibilities for the positions occupied over the entire period, a fact confirmed by the evaluation reports of the professional activity prepared by the employer, in which the defendants were appreciated with the” very good “qualification. This indicates that there are no elements that attest the non -fulfillment or improper fulfillment of the tasks of service. In this case, the existence of such fraudulent conduct was not proved that effectively determined the National Agency for Fiscal Administration to bear a damage ”, argues the court judges.

They worked with “good faith”

The CAB magistrates concluded that the salaries paid to the two ANAF inspectors were deserved because they were paid for an activity.

“The court of appeal finds that there is no evidence to attest the intention of the defendants to mislead or to obtain an unfair material. The employer institution considers that it was wrong to hold the existence of a damage or intention to produce it, as the activity of the defendants was effective and evaluated positively, and the payment of salaries was legally justified and not the result of fraudulent or abusive conduct ”, the magistrates of the Court of Appeal concluded in

After sending the working contracts of the two ANAF inspectors, they were suspended. The false diplomas presented at the employment, respectively the transfer were abolished with the sentence.

A precedent for other files

Lawyers Adrian Georgescu and Ionuț Gonț, who have obtained the payment of the two ANAF inspectors admit that the court decision will be able to have effects in the future and in other cases. In the role of the courts in Romania there are several files in which the civil servants employed on the basis of false diplomas were charged.

“The judges decided that the charges of deception are not supported, given that the professional activity of the defendants was considered valuable, and the salary payments were legally justified. This decision emphasizes the importance of a correct evaluation of the professional behavior within the public institutions. Documents in public institutions and beyond, ”said Adrian Georgescu.

Last year, a teacher from Vaslui was sued for deception and use of false, being accused of teaching for 14 years as a qualified holder, having a false diploma. The file is currently in the role of Vaslui Court. As with ANAF inspectors, the teacher's lawyer challenged the accusation and damage, claiming that he worked for the money received.