Dumitru Buzatu, the former president of the CJ Vaslui, remains under judicial control. He is accused of taking 1.25 million lei in bribes
The measure of judicial control in the case of the former president of the Vaslui County Council, Dumitru Buzatu, was extended by another two months. The decision of the Vaslui Court is not final.
Dumitru Buzatu/PHOTO: Inquam photos/George Călin
The measure of judicial review was also extended for Radu Judele, the accomplice of Dumitru Buzatu, the decision not being final.
According to the Vremea Nouă publication, the process in the corruption case is progressing slowly, although the facts date back to September 2023 and the indictment was drawn up quickly by the DNA. For almost a year, witnesses have been heard, some trying to help Buzatu, like Ana Maria Obreja, while the key witness described in detail how the bribe was demanded.
Buzatu benefits from a more permissive regime, being able to leave the county, including to visit his parents, while Judele was forbidden to exercise his profession as an expert.
Meanwhile, the trial continues with the hearing of witnesses, including Ana Maria Obreja, who would have tried to support Buzatu's version regarding the money bag.
Ana Obreja, Dumitru Buzatu's former chief of staff, was heard as a witness and gave vague statements about the bag with 1.5 million lei, claiming that she did not see it, although she admitted that she had asked Buzatu about it.
“When I was loading the rods into the Duster, I noticed a bag in the trunk and I asked Mr. Buzatu if he bought a new bag from Bucharest, again. He also received gift bags from us, from CJ. And in the criminal investigation phase and now I told the truth: I didn't see any bag.
We didn't have a discussion about a new bag, but I asked him if he got another bag. I only saw the rucksack he usually carried. I thought she bought a new bag or a backpack because she didn't bring anything from Bucharest like she usually did. In the trunk of the car, I did not see a new bag, not near or in the backpack in the trunk.
Dumitru Buzatu had a backpack that he carried all the time and came with it, including to work. Before the fishing trip he had returned from Bucharest and I thought he bought something there for me. I went to the rucksack, thinking he bought us something from Bucharest, but I saw nothing but some bagels from Buzău and the rucksack”, Ana Obreja told the magistrates.
Instead, the intercepts show that she had a different attitude at the scene, suggesting that Buzatu used to receive bribes in such bags, which helped strengthen the DNA's accusations.
In September 2023, Dumitru Buzatu was caught red-handed by anti-corruption prosecutors when he received 1.25 million lei as a bribe to favor a company to obtain a contract. The money was found by investigators in the trunk of his car, after the former president of the Vaslui County Council allegedly received it in a restaurant.
