A five-judge panel of the High Court of Cassation and Justice on Wednesday acquitted businessman Ioan Niculae and former Economy minister Adriean Videanu of setting up an organised criminal group and embezzlement in the Romgaz – Interagro case, in which the damage calculated by prosecutors amounted to over 60 million euros.

They had also been acquitted in court in December 2022 on the grounds that „the crime did not exist,” and on Wednesday the five-judge panel rejected, by a majority, the appeals filed by the Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) and Romgaz.

There was also a separate opinion of a judge in the panel, who found that the appeals filed by DIICOT and Romgaz were well-founded and that acquittal was not indicated, but ending the criminal proceedings and ordering the defendants to pay the damages.

Former minister of Economy Varujan Vosganian was also involved in this case, but Parliament rejected twice, in 2013 and 2015, DIICOT’s request to prosecute him.

According to DIICOT, the damage to Romgaz amounted to 282,630,330 lei.

AGERPRES