The money factory at Borș Point 2: Two border police officers used the service vehicle to demand money from foreign drivers
A border police officer has been remanded in custody and his colleague is under investigation after investigators discovered that at Borș Crossing Point 2, the two allegedly demanded money from a Bulgarian citizen and falsified data in their duty reports to cover up their actions.
Police officers investigated for bribery PHOTO: DGA
Judicial police officers from the General Anticorruption Directorate – Bihor County Anticorruption Service, under the coordination of a case prosecutor from the Prosecutor's Office attached to the Bihor Court, carried out procedural activities in a criminal case aimed at the commission of corruption offenses by border police officers.
As part of the investigation, two border police agents are being investigated for the crimes of bribery, complicity in bribery, embezzlement and intellectual forgery.
Against one of the defendants, Bînțu Mădălin Costel, the prosecutors ordered the measure of preventive arrest for 30 days.
“From the investigations carried out so far, it has emerged that, being in the exercise of his duties, one of the policemen would have claimed and received a sum of money from a foreign citizen, in order not to order legal measures. In this context, the second policeman would have supported the criminal activity, contributing to the creation of an intimidating framework and to strengthening the perception that remitting the money is the only way to avoid sanctions. Also, in order to obtain the sum of money, the police officer would have used the service vehicle to transport the person in question to a bank unit, in order to withdraw the cash”the DGA sent.
The Public Prosecutor's Office's investigation reveals bribery, forgeries and police abuses
During the investigation, it was also established that both policemen would have recorded unreal data in official documents to fictitiously justify their professional activities.
The prosecutors drew up a report with a proposal for preventive arrest against Bînțu Mădălin Costel, a border police agent, notifying the Judge of Rights and Freedoms at the Bihor Court. In the case, Bînțu is accused of complicity in bribery, complicity in embezzlement and two crimes of intellectual forgery.
The administered evidence shows that, on October 17, 2025, Bînțu would have allowed his colleague, Ban Cristian, to receive a sum of money from a Bulgarian citizen. For this purpose, Bînțu created an intimidating setting, simulated the start of drawing up an infringement report which he abandoned, remained in the vicinity of the crime scene and received part of the money (600 lei), reinforcing the witness's conviction that paying the money was the only solution.
“The act of the defendant Bînțu Mădălin Costel, as a border police agent, consisted in the fact that, on October 17, 2025, he facilitated his colleague Ban Cristian to commit the act of bribery. Bînțu participated in the approach of the witness, together with Ban Cristian he created an intimidating framework for the application of severe contraventional sanctions, he simulated the start of drawing up the contravention minutes, which later abandoned him, and remained in the vicinity of the crime scene”the prosecutors said.
For his part, Ban Cristian, in the same period of time, would have used the police special vehicle to transport the Bulgarian citizen to an ATM to withdraw the amount, a fact classified as embezzlement and complicity in embezzlement.
“Ban Cristian, in the time interval 12:20 – 12:40, with the permission of his colleague, used the special police car to transport the Bulgarian citizen to an ATM to withdraw the amount of money that was the object of the bribe taking”, prosecutors say.
In addition, both agents allegedly completed false report notes regarding the missions executed on October 5 and 17, 2025, mentioning checks and identifications of EU citizens that, in reality, did not take place, in order to justify the professional activity in writing.
Prosecutors outlined the main reason for the arrest. “The proposal for preventive arrest was based, among other things, on the fact that the goal pursued at the workplace was not the fulfillment of the duties according to the law, but
Investigators emphasize that conducting a criminal investigation and reporting to the court does not remove the presumption of innocence, and defendants are considered innocent until a final court decision.
Research continues to clarify the entire factual situation.
