Ziua, 2  February  1999

The PDSR Congressman Victor Neagu grabbed three apartments in a building built with Government money

The PDSR Governing period has been characterized, among others, as the period of the big "hits", remarkable by favoritism, proliferation of corruption as a state policy, and by bankruptcy of the industry and agriculture. Today, even if they are not the majority in the Government, PDSR dignitaries still keep in their hands the economical power, and, through that power have all the perks and their previous privileges. In time where the majority of the population lives in poverty, from day-to-day, through dirty dealings, PDSR dignitaries have accumulated fabulous wealth. The alliance Hrebenciuc-Temesan-Nastase is known for their part in Bancorex’s felonies, bankruptcy of big companies in order to be acquired with sums amounting to practically nothing, including the acquirement of Baragan by the Nastase clan. All these practices are continued today by the congressman Bivolaru’s "men" and others in this category. All those individuals continue to, systematically, steal public money under the protection of the parliamentary immunity. The newspaper "Ziua" unveils a new case in which PDSR dignitary, Victor Neagu, who profiting from the position that he has in an agency of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, made fraudulent dealings of millioons of dollars.

Started in 1970, as a training/development unit of the agricultural workers, the Center of Development of the Agricultural Mechanization Staff (CPPMA) Stefanesti is an auto-financing, public institution directly subordinated to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food (MAA). The situation has been, promptly, changed when the central leadership was given to PDSR member Victor Neagu, ex-senator and current congressman. CPPMA Stefanesti considered itself as an independent entity, based on the fact that it was not financed by the MAA, despite that it was a public institution with extra-budgetary income. Many controls performed by the Internal Financial Audit Unit (SCFP) of the MAA, established that the CPPMA Stefanesti management, leaded by director Neagu, abandoned the legal accounting system and financial statement reporting by not keeping records of the income/budget and by not reporting the financial statement to the minister. From a public institution, CPPMA has been transformed, step-by-step, into a commercial organization with accounting plans, economical balance, using, at the same time, the salary system of the public institutions without having an organizational chart with functions.
The sums obtained from the auto financing were not deposited at the Treasury, as the Public Financial Law requires, but in diverse accounts at the Bank of Religions, Bank Agricola, and BRD. On behalf of CPPMA Stefanesti, Neagu and his clique made loans of tens of milliards of lei, at different banks, guaranteed with Center’s (CPPMA) buildings. Under the parliamentary immunity covering, like the famous Gabriel Bivolaru, the PDSR congressman Victor Neagu handled, through the institution that he led illegal dealings of hundreds of milliards of lei.
All the above were subject of many controls performed by MAA - SCFP. The following is the statement of one of the inspectors, participant at the control process that took place on 12/04/1992, "…due to the PDSR congressman Victor Neagu’s intervention, at that time senator in the governing party, all the findings resulted from the control of 12/04/92 were put under silence, in an abusive manner."
At the last control CPPMA Stefanesti the SCFP chief, Ioan Petra shattered director’s luck. He did not let himself be intimidated of the parliamentary immunity of PDSR congressman Neagu, and reproached the MAA control unit that they used "communistic methods" and because of those inspectors "… the employees are harassed and can no longer work."

As written in the SCFP report, one of the biggest frauds of the congressman-director Neagu was the construction of an apartment complex that cost more than 30 milliards lei, in the center of Bucharest, for him and his clique. The dealings started in 1991 when CPPMA Stefanesti solicited a final approval for the construction of two buildings situated on Marasesti Blvd. Though, legally, these investments are permissible only to the autonomous institutions and commercial organizations and not to the public institutions, the Secretary of State Costica Leu gave his illegal accord, with the purpose "to sell the apartments to the employees." The SCFP inspectors’ report states: "… the investment costs, were mainly provided by the illegal commercial activity of the company, changing of the destination of the funds and false fund transfers in the investment account." In addition, an extremely serious fact: Director Neagu contracted on behalf of CPPMA Stefanesti, a credit of 895,5 million lei guaranteed with the Center (CPPMA) buildings. In 1994, due to the insufficiency of funds the building activity was interrupted. It restarted after Neagu decided the fraudulent association of the institution under his leadership with FPP V Oltenia. The "Marcomontaj" SRL, preferentially chosen by the congressman Neagu and not selected through public bidding as required by the law executed the job. Finally, CPPMA Stefanesti spent in those buildings 10,669,177,330 lei and FPP V Oltenia, 19,995,289,546 lei.

Before the final inspection was made, the apartments were sold at prices three or more times under their real value. This way, an apartment with four rooms with multiple improvements, located in the center of Bucharest has been quoted at 124 million lei. At the market value the same apartment is evaluated at least at $40,000. Under the pretext that CPPMA employees did not express interest in buying those apartments, from a total of nine apartments allocated to CPPMA Stefanesti, director Neagu kept for himself "the best", three apartments of four and two rooms, payable in installments over 20 years period.The executive director, Nicolae Bundaru, has been recompensed with two apartments, and the chief accountant Marinela Mocondoi (accused for embezzling over 90 million lei from the company’s funds), the experts Mihai Apostolescu and Aurel Restivan (Neagu’s acquaintance) with one apartment each. In addition, two commercial spaces situated at the first floor were sold through a commissioner who stole 30 million lei himself, during the inspection performed by the MAA inspectors.
To justify the fraud of ten milliard lei from the public funds and his ownership, the ex-senator PDSR Victor Neagu stated in a note addressed to the Inspection Unit that, "…through the finalization of these investments there were placed at the disposition of Bucharest 54 apartments and two commercial spaces."

By  Sorin Ghica
Translated by  Lidia Suveiu