Cristian Anton, Grindeanu's former chief of staff, detained by the DNA. The prosecutors found over half a million euros at his home / Part of the money, kept in boxes
Cristian Anton, head of the Romanian Road Authority (ARR), was detained by anti-corruption prosecutors for 24 hours on Tuesday, judicial sources told investigative website Snoop. In addition, according to the sources, another 150,000 euros were found during the searches carried out at his home, in addition to the 350,000 euros.
- Snoop revealed in an investigation that Anton declared for the year 2024 income of more than 10,000 euros per month from five jobs in the state. Asked by the publication how he divides his time between his five jobs, he stated: “How any householder divides his time.”
Cristian Anton was detained for 24 hours, at the end of the hearings at DNA Bucharest headquarters, according to Snoop.ro sources.
At the official's home, the investigators found around 350,000 euros (77,000 lei, the rest euros), part of the money being hidden in shoe boxes, the investigation site revealed.
Later, another 150,000 euros were found, revealed judicial sources. That is, the total amount found during the searches of his residence is approximately 500,000 euros.
The allegations in the file
According to Snoop's sources, 12 people are targeted in the DNA corruption file, including Cristian Anton, the head of ARR, for corruption and similar crimes:
- bribery
- bribery
- influence traffic
- formation of an organized criminal group
- disclosure of information not intended for the public
They are suspected by prosecutors of taking bribes between 600 and 1,500 euros for the subjects of the examination for professional certificates for professional drivers in the transport of goods.
The income declared by Cristian Anton
According to Snoop, Cristian Anton declared income from five sources, from the Romanian Road Authority, the Ministry of Transport, the Calafat bridge, Traian Vuia Airport in Timișoara and a water company in Călărași, in a total amount of 637,000 lei, i.e. 125,000 euros – in other words, over 10,000 euros per month.
Concretely, in the declaration of wealth from 2025, related to the year 2024, which he submitted as cabinet director at the Ministry of Transport, Anton mentioned the following incomes:
- 273,000 lei from the Romanian Road Authority (ARR), salary, legal director, since 2012;
- 56,000 lei from the Ministry of Transport, salary, chief of staff, from 2021;
- 28,000 lei from Traian Vuia Airport in Timișoara, allowance, member of the Board of Directors, from 2021;
- 256,000 lei from Danube Bridge Vidin Calafat, supervisory board, allowance, from 2022;
- 24,000 lei from Ecoaqua SA, Board of Directors, allowance, 2023-2024.
Cristian Anton, a close friend of Sorin Grindeanu
Two decades ago, the two were local PSD councilors in Timisoara. After the appointment of Sorin Grindeanu, in November 2021, in the position of Minister of Transport in the Ciucă Government, Anton appears as cabinet director.
Also during this period, in December 2021, according to termene.ro, he was appointed to the board of directors of the “Traian Vuia” International Airport in Timișoara.
Anton (57 years old), a lawyer by profession, held the position of legal director in the MIR group of companies between 2010 and 2011, led by businessman Neculai Miron.
In 2012, he became head of the legal department of the Romanian Road Authority, an institution he currently leads.
The studies mentioned in the CV
According to the CV on the official page of Timișoara Airport, Cristian Anton has a degree in both finance-banking and legal sciences, at two different universities: Nicolae Titulescu from Craiova (1998) and the University of Oradea (2002).
In his CV he also mentioned three master's programs, at the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (2002), the European University Drăgan in Lugoj (2004) and the Romanian Diplomatic Institute (2011), the last one in diplomacy and security.
In 2015, Anton participated in the “Current National Security Issues” course at the National Defense College. According to the official website of CNAP, the course lasts 24 weeks, i.e. half a year.
The CV also mentions a doctorate in law, obtained in 2010, but the university is not specified. His thesis was coordinated by the university professor Dumitru Mazilu, a former member of the communist apparatus, who became after the Revolution the leader of the FSN, then a critic of Ion Iliescu.
Grindeanu, about Anton: “I want him to be innocent”
On Tuesday, in a press conference in Brașov, the PSD leader was asked by the reporter about Cristian Anton and the corruption case from ARR.
“I saw this morning… Whoever doesn't respect the law should pay. I don't know the details. I wish for him, personally, to be innocent. But, I repeat, if someone makes a mistake… It doesn't matter that he was head of the cabinet or a minister and so on. Whoever doesn't respect the law pays”, answered Sorin Grindeanu.
