The High Court of Cassation and Justice (ICCJ) definitively annulled, on Wednesday, the 7-year prison sentence received in 2017 by Gabriel Puiu Popoviciu and ordered the acquittal of the businessman for acts of corruption in connection with the association of his company, SC Băneasa Investments SA , with the University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine from the Capital for a 224-hectare plot of land.
The Supreme Court upheld the decision handed down in July by the Bucharest Court of Appeal.
The decision comes after the judges granted Puiu Popoviciu a request to revise the sentence of conviction.
The ground given by the magistrates for the acquittal is that the deed does not exist.
‘Admits the review request made by the reviewer Popoviciu Gabriel-Aurel, the effects of which were also extended regarding the defendants Alecu Ioan Niculae, Bejenaru Andrei Mihai, Diaconescu Ștefan, Șerban Ilie Cornel, Pitcovici Petru Daniel, Luican Mihai Ion Florin, Toader Gabriel Răsvan, Todiraș Ioan, Minea Lizeta, Petrulian Gheorghe. Cancels the criminal sentence no. 115/F/23.06.2016 pronounced by the CAB in file no. 9577/2/2012, final by criminal decision no. 266/A/02.08.2017 of the ICCJ and in the retrial of the criminal side combined with the civil side that is the subject of criminal file no. 46/1/2020: pursuant to art. 396 paragraph 5 Cpp rap. to art. 16 letter a, acquits the defendant Alecu Ioan Niculae, for committing the crime of abuse of office in a qualified form since the act does not exist. Acquit the defendant Popoviciu Gabriel-Aurel, for committing the crimes of complicity in abuse of office in a qualified form and for committing the crime of bribery, as the facts do not exist’, the CAB sentence states.
Also, the other defendants in the case received acquittals.
On August 2, 2017, the businessman Gabriel Puiu Popoviciu received a definitive sentence of 7 years in prison in the “Băneasa Farm” case. In the same case, Cornel Șerban (former head of DGIPI) – 2 years and 6 months with execution, Ioan Nicolae Alecu (rector of USAMV Bucharest) – 6 years in prison with execution, Petru Pitcovici (former head of the General Anticorruption Directorate from MAI) – 2 years with suspension, Ștefan Diaconescu – 5 years with execution and Andrei Mihai Bejenaru – 6 years with execution.
Gabriel Puiu Popoviciu left Romania before the sentencing, being located in Great Britain, from where the Romanian authorities unsuccessfully tried to extradite him.
He was initially detained in London but was released on £200,000 bail.
Later, in 2021, the High Court of Justice of Great Britain definitively rejected Romania’s request to extradite the businessman, the British judges reasoning that Popoviciu was not tried by an impartial Tribunal in Romania and “suffered a complete denial” of his rights to a fair trial, as they are protected by Article 6 of the ECHR.
According to DNA, in the period 2000-2004, the rector of USAMV Bucharest, Ioan Niculae Alecu, benefiting from the interested support of Popoviciu, on the basis of a contract concluded in violation of the legal provisions, would have made it possible to bring a 224-hectare land, belonging to the public domain of to the state, as a contribution in kind to the share capital of SC Băneasa Investments SA, a company controlled by the businessman Puiu Popoviciu.
Given that the respective land (Băneasa farm) was in the public property of the state, according to the law, it could not be the object of any transaction and, in addition, it was clearly undervalued. At the time of incorporation as a contribution to the share capital of SC Băneasa Investments SA, the land was valued at one dollar/m2, while the market value from that date was approximately 150 euros/m2. The land is located in the northern part of the city of Bucharest, adjacent to the DN1 Bucharest – Ploiești, and on this land were built workplaces and the headquarters of important commercial companies’, argued the prosecutors.
Initially, Popoviciu, in agreement with the rector, would have created the possibility of concluding a partnership agreement under illegal conditions, introducing the SC Log Trans company, which later became Băneasa Investments, into this mechanism.
According to the contract, fruit-growing, viticulture, and animal husbandry activities had to be developed on the land of the Băneasa farm.
“Without the consent of the members of the Senate Bureau and the USAMV Bucharest Senate, Ioan Alecu and Gabriel Popoviciu established the participation percentages within the association, respectively 49% for the University and 51% for SC Log Trans. An assessment of the 224 ha land and related buildings that were to be brought into the association had not been done. Therefore, the acceptance of a participation rate of 49% by the University was not done under legal conditions. In addition, the contribution of 51%, in the form of money, which belonged to the other party, was only formal, the sums of money only transiting the company’s accounts’, the prosecutors also indicated.
According to them, in order to implement the hidden agreement with the businessman, the rector would have misled the members of the USAMV Bucharest Senate, presenting them with false data and even imposing the amendment of the University Charter. It would also have been claimed that teachers’ salaries will be increased, that the university will earn funds with the help of which the educational unit will be equipped, to ensure decent study conditions, that studios will be built to be rented by preparators, assistants, PhD students, etc.
The defendant Alecu agreed that the above-mentioned joint venture agreement should be designed and drafted by Popoviciu and his lawyers, without the participation of the University’s legal advisor and economist. The contract was signed at USAMV Bucharest under improper conditions for representing the university. On August 3, 2000, violating the decision of the USAMV Senate, the defendants Alecu, Popoviciu and Bejenaru contributed the right of use over a 174-hectare plot of land (part of the 224-ha area of the Băneasa farm), together with the related buildings, to the share capital of SC Băneasa Investments SA (SC Log Trans). After the provision of the right of use, the buildings related to the Băneasa farm were demolished’, the indictment stated.
At the request of rector Alecu, Popoviciu would have promised him that he would support him in obtaining the property title on the land belonging to the Băneasa farm, and thus, under illegal conditions, during 2001, at the proposal of the subcommittee for the application of Law 1/2000 (a land fund), the Bucharest municipality commission issued the property title for USAMV Bucharest.
After the release of the property title, Ioan Alecu, in agreement with Popoviciu, would have contributed the ownership right over the 174 ha area to the share capital of SC Băneasa and the ownership right over the buildings built on this land, although the USAMV Senate Decision forbade this.
In this context, the land was undervalued, and later, in 2004, the difference up to 224 hectares would have been added to the company’s capital, under undervalued conditions.
“Practically, as a result of all these activities, the University of Agricultural Sciences had no benefit, on the contrary, it lost the area of land related to the Băneasa farm that it originally managed and operated. As a result of the release of the property title on the surface of 224 ha, a damage of 335,387,260 lei was caused to the state. The damage caused to USAMV Bucharest amounts to the amount of 619,472,218 lei and consists of the value of the lands contributed through undervaluation to the share capital of SC Băneasa Investments SA and the removal from the company of the sums of money that had been contributed to the share capital, missing the capital company of work’, the prosecutors said
Source: www.cotidianul.ro
