DNA acussations against three well-known people exploded yesterday, 23 mai 2024. They were questioned from noon till 03.00 o'clock in the morning.
With a bail of 500,000 lei (100.000 euros), Florian Coldea, the former deputy director of SRI, is under court supervision. Lawyer Doru Trăilă and retired General Dumitru Dumbravă are both subject to the same measure. In a DNA case, the three are charged with money laundering and influence peddling. The three suspects were still at DNA headquarters at three in the morning.
Up until 2017, Florian Coldea served as Romania's deputy director of intelligence.He was outsted after a public scandal involving money and political involvment during Traian Băsescu presidential mandate. General Dumitru Dumbravă was the head of the SRI’s legal department during the tenure of General Florian Coldea, the former military chief of SRI. After Coldea’s retirement in 2017, Dumbravă served as the secretary general of SRI until his own retirement in 2018. Both were been accused of interfering in the judiciary to obtain certain outcomes in criminal cases.
Coming back to the case, according to G4Media sources, out of the 100,000 euros that businessman Cătălin Hideg allegedly gave to Florian Coldea and Dumitru Dumbravă, were split. 20,000 euros went to lawyer Trăilă, while the remaining 80,000 euros were divided between Coldea and Dumbravă. Under judicial supervision, the former deputy SRI chief is being held on a 500,000 lei bail.
DNA start an investigation after a businessmen denunciation
When Sanimed International's owner was first found guilty of using fraudulent documents and money laundering, he received a four-year prison sentence. His case was investigated by the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO), the first of its kind in Romania, under the direction of Laura Codruța Kovesi.
In April, Cătălin Hideg made public that he had been asked for 600,000 euros plus VAT by Florian Coldea and Dumitru Dumbravă in order to "optimize" his corruption case.
While Coldea continues to be questioned at the DNA, but Cătălin Hideg described the process by which he was approached to obtain money in order to have his criminal case dismissed.
"I think more than 100 people told me that Mr. Coldea was the only one who could handle my situation during the two years I was placed under judicial control in Romania.
When I signed the contract with them, they said that normally, if things go well, if the judge at the tribunal, who was Mr. Trăilă’s student, gives a positive resolution, the appeal court would be simpler, and we would reduce those years joyfully," said Cătălin Hideg on Antena 3 CNN.
Coldea blackmailed Hideg
Cătălin Hideg disclosed how he was blackmailed by Florian Coldea and provided information about those involved in the criminal network:
"Dan Tocaci talked to Bogdan Neidoni, Bogdan Neidoni talked to Mr. Coldea, and Mr. Coldea talked to Mr. Dumbravă. Dumbravă received me in his office to discuss the situation, explaining the conditions for optimizing this situation. Then he recommended Mr. Trăilă," he said.
At noon, 23 mai 2024, Florian Coldea, the former deputy director of the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI), was being questioned at the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA). In the process where he is accused of blackmail by businessman Cătălin Hideg.
Hideg also accuses Coldea and his alleged "group" of trying to force him to sell his healthcare business to foreign investors. Entering the DNA headquarters, Coldea refused to answer journalists' questions. Earlier, former head of the SRI’s legal department, General Dumitru Dumbravă, also entered the DNA headquarters.
Very serious acusations
The accusations against Florian Coldea are "extremely serious." According to judicial sources cited by Gândul, the former SRI deputy has serious accusations to explain to the anticorruption prosecutors. Considering these accusations, preventive measures against him are not excluded.
Hideg claims that the group led by Florian Coldea falsified accusations and files to pressure him into selling his healthcare business to foreigners, particularly French citizens. Their plan was to turn Hideg's business into another Hexipharma, a failed business that also ended up in French hands.
Cătălin Hideg provided an audio recording as evidence, which was aired during the "Behind the Parallel State" show on Realitatea Plus.