Ex-minister attempts to justify money gained during term
A former minister of Economy has lashed out at the investigators looking into his family accounts who concluded that 1 million euro cannot be justified. Dan Ioan Popescu, who was a minister in 2000-2004, organized a press conference February 12 in an attempt to prove the investigators wrong and explain the source of money.
Popescu justified the 1 million euros through a selling transaction of Ital Agency shares he and his wife owned, to the chairman of Luxten company, and from his wife’s business deals. He also explained that disagreements between the figures in the investigation report come from the exchange rate variation.
The Special Commission on Wealth Investigation of the Supreme Court has discovered that DIP illegally gained goods valued at more than ROL 46 bln, equivalent of approx. 1 million euros, during his term as minister of Economy. Hence, the Comission has freezed several goods.
Dan Ioan Popescu suspended himself from the chairman position of the Social Democratic Party Bucharest (PSD) but kept his deputy status in the Romanian parliament.