Former President Traian Băsescu commented on the situation of the former SRI general, accused of influence peddling after a businessman revealed that he asked for 60 million euros to obtain a lighter sentence in a case of fraud with European funds.
«If what is being circulated is true, he must go to jail. It is unacceptable for an official with the stature he had in the state and with his portfolio — it is unacceptable if he broke the law and used the information during his term for personal purposes,» said Traian Băsescu.
Băsescu says that both Florian Coldea and Laura Codruța Kovesi were «too young» when they were appointed to important positions.
«I wondered what happened to them (Coldea and Kovesi, ed.) and I have only one explanation. It is a mistake to appoint people without life experience to positions of great power. Too young, both him and Kovesi. They were much too young when I appointed them and when they realized they could part with the positions in which I appointed them. Kovesi did not like to return to Sibiu, Coldea did not like to no longer be the head of the SRI,» added the former head of state.
The former president also spoke about the security of some state secrets in the context of the indictment for influence peddling of former SRI generals Florian Coldea and Dumitru Dumbravă, stating that he assumes responsibility for the actions of state institutions until December 2014 (ed. not after).
«We are in 2024, this man is retired, a criminal, but retired. I do not assume any responsibility. A man who retired 7 years ago and was caught in a very delicate situation for him. As for the security of some state secrets, there must be a way to protect him, to protect the secrets he knows. He wrote consultancy because he can give guidance, inform, because he knows what a businessman needs to do. The fact that he goes to Monaco and Dubai represents a risk,» said Traian Băsescu.
Florian Coldea, former deputy director of the SRI, was placed under judicial control, as was former SRI general Dumitru Dumbravă and lawyer Doru Trăila.
Businessman Cătălin Hideg, who reported former SRI generals Florian Coldea and Dumitru Dumbravă to the DNA, stated on Thursday, in an intervention at Antena 3, that they would have asked him, through lawyer Doru Trăilă, the sum of 60.0 euros to help him obtain a suspended sentence, in a case in which he has a first instance sentence of 4 years in prison for fraud with European funds.
Cătălin Hideg, owner of the company Sanimed International, was sentenced in February by the Bucharest Court to four years in prison for using false documents and money laundering, in a case related to a fraud with European funds worth three million euros.
«I do not know those people, here is an extra element. What is an important man of the services doing in their entourage? I listened to the recordings, I only found him in the discussion of some about him, but I did not find him speaking,» said Traian Băsescu, referring to the DNA case targeting Coldea.
