Dozens of civil servants reached positions in ANAF and the Ministry of Finance with studies done at ghost universities
ANAF Inquam Photos / Octav Ganea
50 officials were hired or promoted to positions at ANAF and the Ministry of Finance, based on studies done at two phantom universities. Many of them continue to work in the tax system today, even though some of their degrees have been canceled by judges, Public Record journalists reveal.
The situation was described in detail by auditors from the Court of Accounts in a 2022 report.
According to the cited source, the diplomas were obtained at two private universities: “Europa-Ecor US” University in Bucharest and “Alexandru Ghica” University in Alexandria.
Both universities had behind them foundations established by Silviu Mina Dobronăuțeanu. These institutions functioned provisionally, their authorizations were withdrawn, and many diplomas were later canceled by the courts.
The scheme by which non-professionals reached important positions
In 2009, prosecutors from the Prosecutor's Office attached to the 4th District Court discovered that Dobronăuțeanu, together with other people, forged thousands of documents for 2,039 “students”, according to Public Record. The mechanism was simple: candidates were recruited, then their transcripts and baccalaureate diplomas were produced. With these documents, the students went to give their license at other accredited universities.
Hundreds of employees from state institutions have benefited from his mechanism.
According to the cited source, people with no experience studied at the two ghost universities, took their undergraduate exams at accredited educational institutions, and were hired or promoted to positions. In some cases, the matriculation sheets were signed by the maid, in other cases the signatures on the documents are completely missing.
Many inspectors and counselors with canceled diplomas continued to exercise their duties within ANAF or county public finance agencies.
Public Record asked Finance Minister Alexandru Nazare if he knows about the situation of employees with fake diplomas, but he did not answer the journalists' questions.
Read the full investigation on Public Record
