The minister of Justice, Alina Gorghiu, declared on Tuesday that in the case of fugitive Paul de Romania, who is under preventive arrest in Malta until May 9, the ministry and the enforcement court will do all the diligence to be returned to the country, mentioning that she will have a dialogue on this topic including with her counterpart from this country.

„In connection with the fugitive Paul de Romania, allow me to also congratulate the Romanian Police for the impeccable cooperation it had with the French and Maltese Police, because thanks to this very good collaboration the fugitive was identified and caught after he left the territory of France. I remind you that this fugitive was sentenced to a prison term of three years and four months for the crime of buying influence and complicity in the abuse of office in the case known to the public, Baneasa Farm. The damage is an extremely large one, of 9,523,769 euros, which is why, on December 18, 2020, a European arrest warrant was issued in his name and I assure you that the enforcement court, the Court of Appeal Brasov has undertaken until today all the diligence to be able to return this fugitive to the country”, specified Gorghiu, after the Government meeting.

She recalled that the European arrest warrant issued by the Brasov Court of Appeal was rejected in the French courts.

„You know the context, but I can confirm what I told you before that there is great dissatisfaction and frustration at the level of the Romanian state, at the level of the Ministry of Justice, at the level of the courts, even at the level of the ANP, because it has reached that situation on the territory of France”, added Gorghiu.

She mentioned that at this moment, as it is known, Paul de Romania is in Malta.

„On the basis of the same European arrest warrant, the procedure was resumed. It was a term of judgment, as we publicly announced yesterday, where it was decided to pre-arrest this fugitive until May 9, a decision which, of course, can be contested and I think that it will be contested. I also make it clear once again that the request made by the fugitive’s team to be released on bail was rejected,” Gorghiu said.

According to Gorghiu, the Ministry of Justice and the enforcement court will do all the diligence for this fugitive to be returned to the country.

She said that Romania did not have any fugitives in Malta neither in 2023 nor in 2024.

„So, we can’t say that we have a practice, on the contrary. That’s why I think it’s absolutely necessary to discuss with the authorities in Malta to be able to establish the parameters in which we will collaborate in the future”, said Gorghiu.

Asked how soon he could be brought to the country, Gorghiu said that the period varies from state to state, the procedure can take between 3 and 6 months.

On April 29, the minister of Justice announced that Paul de Romania, sentenced in the „Baneasa Farm” case to three years and four months in prison with execution, was remanded in custody.

In 2020, the High Court of Cassation and Justice definitively sentenced the businessman Remus Truica to seven years in prison with execution in the case of the illegal retrocession of the Royal Baneasa Farm, and Paul de Romania received a sentence of three years and four months of imprisonment.

AGERPRES