The searches of two prosecutors in Constanța suspected of influence peddling. In the past, they have been accused of trying to escape a famous defendant
Thirteen searches took place on Wednesday afternoon at the Prosecutor's Office attached to the Constanța Court of Appeal in an investigation coordinated by the prosecutors of the Prosecutor's Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice, the officials of the institution announced, without indicating the name or quality of the persons investigated.
Sources from the General Prosecutor's Office told HotNews that the investigation concerns prosecutors Gigi Valentin Ștefan and Teodor Niță from the Prosecutor's Office attached to the Court of Appeal of Constanta, information originally published by Mediafax.
“The searches were carried out at the homes of some individuals and at the headquarters of some public institutions, in a criminal file in which investigations are being carried out under the aspect of the crime of influence peddling, as well as other corruption crimes, committed between December 2025 and May 2026”, the General Prosecutor's Office sent in a press release.
In this case, several people are being investigated, against whom “there are reasonable suspicions regarding the involvement in the criminal activity under investigation”.
The persons targeted by the investigations are taken to hearings. Gigi Valentin Ștefan was the general prosecutor of the Prosecutor's Office attached to the Court of Appeal (PCA) Constanța between 2016 and 2024. He was later delegated to the position of deputy general prosecutor, but in the summer of 2024, the CSM rejected the extension of the delegation, and Gigi Valentin Ștefan returned to an execution post.
Prosecutor in the Constanța PCA since 2013, Teodor Niță ran in 2020 for the headship of DIICOT, but without success.
Public accusers in the case of the former CNAS head
The names of the prosecutors Ștefan and Niță were mentioned in the file in which the former head of the National Health Insurance Company (CNAS), Lucian Duță, was tried.
In 2022, Judges Daniela Panioglu and Alina Nadia Guluţanu from the Bucharest Court of Appeal indicated in the justification of Duță's conviction that prosecutors Gigi Valentin Ștefan and Teodor Niță harassed key witnesses in the case in which the head of the CNAS was indicted in order to help him get rid of the charges.
The two prosecutors rejected the accusations and reported the two judges to the Judicial Inspection.
The CSM decided to exclude judges Panioglu and Guluțanu from the judiciary. The decision was later overturned by the Supreme Court.
In December last year, the supreme court annulled the 6-year prison sentence of the former head of the Health Insurance Company Lucian Duță, in an extraordinary appeal.
Duță was accused of taking a bribe of 6.3 million euros in exchange for awarding a contract of public money to two software companies, for the implementation of the health card.
