What the newspapers say: September 10, 2010 

All newspapers read about the temporary arrest for 29 days of media mogul Sorin Ovidiu Vantu, Octavian Turcan and Alexandru Stoian, accused that they helped Nicolae Popa escape the country as he had a 15 years of prison sentence. Elsewhere in the news, newspapers reveal conversations that Sorin Ovidiu Vantu had with Nicolae Popa which read that the businessman sent him money regularly.

Evenimentul Zilei reads that media mogul Sorin Ovidiu Vantu, Octavian Turcan and Alexandru Stoian, his driver will remain under temporary arrest for 29 days in the investigation related to the escape of Romanian Nicolae Popa. Bucharest Tribunal judges decided to arrest them for 29 days late last night.

According to Romanian news agency Mediafax, as Vantu heard the sentence, he called „Shame lady, shame!” Prosecutors underlined in the arrest proposal that Vantu has an arrogance towards the judicial system overall.

According to prosecutors, Vantu sent regularly sums of money to Nicolae Popa when he was seeked to be jailed. Popa ran out of the country in 2000 after the FNI business crashed, which left thousands of hundreds of people without their investments.

Romania libera reveals that prosecutors have been on Vantu’s back for three years as they tried to prove his connection to Popa. The newspaper reads that the runaway was permanently monitored and the evidence came when Popa took from his accounts 44,500 euro sent by Vantu through third parties.

Prosecutors included stenograms of conversations between Sorin Ovidiu Vantu and Popa later last year which read clearly that Vantu sent him money and it also reveals the methods used to make the transfers.

Prosecutors explained that Vantu, Octavin Turcan and Alexandru Stoica even though they were not allowed to leave the country created a system to communicate with Nicolae Popa and send him money. The money sent by Vantu are clearly revealed in telephone conversations.

Of the evidence it is clear that on October 2009 Popa requested 50,000 euro from Vantu in an account in Indonesia to attempt to delay the execution of his punishment. The money were meant to help him financially and were used in an attempt not to be discovered by INTERPOL.

On November 11, 2009, Popa’s brother Virgil received 20,000 euro which Popa’s parents would give to Popa as they were about to leave for Indonesia. The money were discovered on Virgil Popa together with plane tickets to Singapore for December 6 2009 – January 7 2010.

On November 3, 2009 Vantu contacts Nicolae Popa and the conversation reveals that the sum was sent but not received by Popa. Vantu tells Popa that he will give money for Popa’s parents through his brother.

Another conversation, on November 4, 2009 between Vantu and Turcan reveals that Vantu gave him orders to transfer money and the other executed. The money circulated to an account in Cyprus, controlled by Vantu.

This system was instate for two years, as Vantu said in a telephone conversation which is a clear clue that Vantu helped Popa to escape the prison sentence from Romania. This is confirmed by Popa’s daughter, who, as witness declared that she visited her father several times starting 2007 and that he lived in Bali and he kept sending her sums of money and that her father did not have a job.