What ANAF discovered at the companies around Realitatea Plus: Millions of lei transferred between companies and affiliated persons
Anti-fraud inspectors from the National Fiscal Administration Agency (ANAF) have identified “significant transfers of funds to affiliated natural persons within the same economic circuit” within a group of companies controlled by the owner and administrator of a TV station, according to a statement sent to the media on Wednesday. ANAF does not specify the name of the group, but official sources told G4Media that it is Realitatea Plus, controlled by businessman Maricel Păcuraru.
ANAF announced two days ago that Antifraud has started an audit of this group of companies, given that they have total debts to the state budget of over 259 million lei.
The investigation reveals the existence of an internal economic circuit, in which funds are transferred and redistributed between affiliated companies and natural persons, without a clear economic justification.
Internal creditors and debts of over 30 million lei
Three companies within the same group, together with several related natural persons, appear as the main creditors of the verified entity. The cumulative amounts exceed 30 million lei and come from contractual relationships whose settlement has not been achieved.
ANAF specified that these financial flows are mostly generated from within the group, with the assumption of a controlled economic circuit, in which money circulates between affiliated entities to create the appearance of financial obligations.
In parallel, the inspectors identified payments of over 10 million lei to related natural and legal persons, but also to other entities in the same economic circuit.
According to the press release, these transactions show the existence of circular financial relationships between companies.
Repeated insolvencies and possible foreclosure avoidance
Another element discovered by ANAF is the recurring behavior of some companies in the group, which frequently change their legal status.
They successively become insolvent and subsequently bankrupt, thus benefiting from the suspension of enforced executions.
Inspectors believe that this practice could represent a deliberate strategy to protect financial flows and delay the recovery of budget claims.
Examples of companies with atypical economic indicators
The preliminary analysis revealed major discrepancies between turnover, profit and the number of employees, i.e. approximately 300 at group level. The example is given of a company, without saying its name, which reported losses of approximately 75 million lei, followed by a profit of 74 million lei after entering bankruptcy.
According to ANAF, such behavior may indicate a form of controlled fiscal optimization, with the aim of reducing fiscal obligations.
In another example, a company with only one or two employees reported extreme variations: from a turnover of 5,000 lei and losses of over 1 million lei, to revenues of over 61 million lei the following year, but with a modest profit. Such discrepancies raise suspicions about the use of these entities as intermediaries in transactions without real economic substance.
The investigation also revealed the fact that the companies in the group organize their accounting records through the same authorized accountant. Moreover, companies in insolvency or bankruptcy have the same judicial liquidator, and the administration is carried out by affiliated or related persons.
These connections reinforce the hypothesis of the existence of a coordinated structure, where financial and administrative decisions are centralized.
ANAF specified that the checks will continue both on the entities involved and on the affiliated persons, in order to establish the real fiscal situation and to recover any outstanding obligations to the state budget.
