Former presidential candidate Cumpanasu faces fraud inquiry over education claims

The head of an NGO with strong ties to state structures, who also ran in Romania’s presidential elections this year, has been placed under inquiry by anti-corruption prosecutors (DNA) over alleged lies in his resume, which amounts to fraud, judicial sources told news agency Mediafax.

The sources said Alexandru Cumpanasu has been placed under inquiry for fraud after he appeared to have lied by claiming he had a higher education diploma in a resume used to get a position as expert in a European-funded project. The project was run by a high education institution, the National University of Polical Studies and Public Administration (SNSPA).

Cumpanasu has been leading an association of NGOs which has contracted a wide array of projects involving governmental and public institutions. But a long period of keeping a low profile came to an end this year when he became personally involved in a murder case that shook Romania – the victim of which, a teenager, was a distant relative of his.

He then decided to run in the presidential elections. But his candidacy was seriously affected by a series of revelations about his contracts with the state – and his education as stated in official statements.

In September, before the elections, the SNSPA decided to check the legality of his employment as an expert in a project, which was made despite the position claiming that he had superior education while he had not provided any proper proof of that.