The companies of the Micula brothers “trampled” by prosecutors, in an investigation into embezzlement and tax evasion

On Monday, the prosecutors carried out six home searches in Bihor county, targeting the headquarters and workplaces of several commercial companies from the European Food and Drinks group, controlled by the brothers Ioan and Viorel Micula. The investigation is being carried out in a case in which investigations are being carried out for embezzlement with particularly serious consequences and tax evasion, the action being part of Operation Jupiter, coordinated by the Prosecutor's Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice and the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police – Economic Crime Investigation Department.

Image 1/6:
WhatsApp Image 2025 11 03 at 09 28 08 jpeg

According to the prosecutors, the purpose of the searches is to discover and gather evidence regarding the commission of these crimes.

“From the evidence administered so far, the existence of some reasonable indications regarding the fact that, between 2018 and 2024, the activity of five legal entities was fraudulently administered, through the implementation and application by natural persons with a decision-making role of a complex contractual mechanism that had as its purpose the illegal transfer of patrimonial assets to other commercial companies under the control of the same natural persons”, it is stated in the communique of the prosecutors.

The context of European decisions

The entire fraudulent mechanism was conceived in the context of the decisions of the European Commission and the EU courts, which established that the Romanian state must recover from the five companies sums paid between 2014 and 2015, approximately 792 million RON, considered illegal state aid.

“On the one hand, in order to limit the possibilities of the Romanian state to recover the amounts owed, and on the other hand, to ensure the continuation of the commercial activity through other legal entities, the criminal mechanism analyzed in the case was implemented, which was based, in essence, on the illegal transfer of a significant part of the assets in the patrimony of the five legal entities to other companies under the control of the same natural persons. The total cumulative value of the assets transferred is approximately 163 million lei”, say the investigators.

Methods of transfer of assets

The main fraudulent methods used consisted in the direct sale or compensation of claims against the companies concerned. The prosecutors signaled that there are doubts regarding the real nature of these operations, which raises questions about the legality of the mechanism by which assets of significant value were removed from the estate.

“From the data held, there are indications that the natural persons who coordinated the European Food and Drinks group implemented a complex criminal mechanism, with the purpose of the illegal transfer of the assets in the patrimony of the companies in the group to other legal persons, but under the control of the same natural persons”the release states.

From the evidence administered, it emerged that in the period 2018 – 2024 there were significant outflows of movable assets (fixed assets, equipment) and real estate (land, constructions), in particular, from the patrimony of the legal entities SC EUROPEAN DRINKS SA, SC EUROPEAN FOOD SA, SC MULTIPACK SRL, SC TRANSILVANIA GENERAL IMPORT EXPORT SRL and SC RIENI DRINKS SA (all legal entities targeted by the refund measures to the Romanian state) to legal entities outside the group, under the control of the same natural persons, respectively SC EUROPEAN FOOD INTERNATIONAL SRL, SC EUROPEAN DRINKS INTERNATIONAL SRL, SC CERTIVEST SRL, SC HOTEL CLUB ESTIVAL 2002 SA, SC PLUS QUADRIGA SRL, SC PRO QUADRIGA SRL and SC ROYAL ESTATES & BUILDINGS SRL.

In the period 2018 – 2024:

– the total assets owned by SC EUROPEAN DRINKS SA – experienced a constant decrease, from an inventory value of approximately 560,000,000 lei in 2018 to approximately 300,000,000 lei at the end of 2023, the decrease in assets continuing in 2024 (until August 2024, with outflows of approximately 60,000,000 lei); it should be mentioned that the most outflows of assets were registered to SC ROYAL ESTATE & BUILDINGS SRL, SC PLUS QUADRIGA SRL, SC HOTEL CLUB ESTIVAL 2002 SA and SC EUROPEAN DRINKS INTERNATIONAL SRL;

– the total assets owned by SC EUROPEAN FOOD SA experienced a constant decrease, from an inventory value of approximately 997,000,000 lei in 2018 to approximately 490,000,000 lei in August 2024, the decrease in assets continuing after this date; it should be mentioned that the most outflows of assets were registered to SC CERTINVEST SRL and SC EUROPEAN FOOD INTERNATIONAL SRL;

– the total assets owned by SC MULTIPACK SRL experienced a constant decrease, from an inventory value of approximately 104,000,000 lei in 2018 to approximately 41,000,000 lei in August 2024, the decrease in assets continuing after this date; it should be mentioned that the most outflows of assets were registered to SC CERTINVEST SRL and SC EUROPEAN FOOD INTERNATIONAL SRL;

– the total assets owned by SC RIENI DRINKS SA experienced a constant decrease, from an inventory value of approximately 420,000,000 lei in 2018 to approximately 199,000,000 lei in 2023, the decrease in assets continuing after this date; to mention that significant asset outflows were registered to SC PRO QUADRIGA SRL and SC EUROPEAN DRINKS INTERNATIONAL SRL;

– similarly, in the case of SC TRANSILVANIA GENERAL IMPORT-EXPORT SRL, a significant increase in asset outflows was observed in the period 2018 – 2024 (the most significant being in the period 2022 – 2024, respectively in 2022 the inventory value of the outflows being 59,000,000 lei, in 2023 of 16,000,000 lei, and in 2024 of 90,000,000 lei); it should be mentioned that significant asset outflows were registered to SC PRO QUADRIGA SRL and SC CERTINVEST SRL.

In parallel, the companies SC EUROPEAN FOOD INTERNATIONAL SRL, SC EUROPEAN DRINKS INTERNATIONAL SRL, SC CERTIVEST SRL, SC PLUS QUADRIGA SRL and SC PRO QUADRIGA SRL registered an accelerated increase in assets, taking over goods and equipment from the targeted companies from the European Food and Drinks group.

“The asset takeover mechanism was based on invoking claims against the legal entities of the European Food and Drinks group and compensating them with goods in the patrimony of the companies concerned, or, in other cases, through the direct sale of the goods”prosecutors explain.

Doubts regarding the legality of operations

The investigators point out that the mechanism raises serious doubts regarding the reality of the claims and the legality of the asset transfers:

“There are serious doubts regarding the legality of the compensation/direct sale mechanism through which assets of significant value were transferred from the patrimony of the European Food and Drinks group companies to the patrimony of SC EUROPEAN FOOD INTERNATIONAL SRL, SC EUROPEAN DRINKS INTERNATIONAL SRL, SC CERTIVEST SRL, SC PLUS QUADRIGA SRL and SC PRO QUADRIGA SRL”the investigators say.

The interest of natural persons

According to the prosecutors, the brothers Ioan and Viorel Micula, who control the group of companies, would have had an interest in keeping as few assets as possible in the targeted companies in order to avoid forced execution by the Romanian state, transferring these assets to other companies under their control.

“The legal entities from the European Food and Drinks group were obliged by decisions of the European courts to return huge sums of money to the Romanian state. This shows a clear interest of the natural persons who control the group of companies for these assets to be transferred, in order to avoid forced execution”. explained the prosecutors.