" Evenimentul Zilei" January 29, 1999

Vasile Bran, a Brasov county PD Congressman, is the defendant in a suit filed by Francisc Bojte Ubelhart, a Romanian citizen residing in Germany. The latter has accused the politician of trying to get a house in Brasov for his daughters by false statements and by filing of a fictitious deed of conveyance, although the building was known to be claimed by its former owners. The suit has been filed against the accused Nicolae Pelin, Elena Pelin, Violeta Adriana Bran, Vasile Bran, Cristina Bran and RIAL R.A. Brasov.

Last year, Ioan Ghise, mayor of Brasov, stated that Congressman Vasile Bran has pressured him into giving a house to his daughter, Cristina Laura Bran. Bran himself admitted that his daughter had applied for a state-owned apartment. But he defended himself by saying that her application is justified, since his family lives in improper conditions, in an apartment in Harmanului Street. He tried to get his daughter the apartment through illegal means: documents read that some members of the Bran family used false statements in order to meet the requirements necessary for obtaining State housing. Although it knew that its former owner has claimed the building, RIAL RA reassigned the house to the Brans, who seized this opportunity in order to be able to apply for a state-owned housing. The building that is claimed both by the Brans and Francisc Bojte Ubelhart is listed in the Land Charter of Brasov 20320 under no.8 and located at 29, Nicolae Titulescu Street, Brasov. After its former owner left the country, the owner’s mother, Rozalia Bojte, resided in ¼ of that house. After her death, Francisc Ubelhart, her son, inherited this part of the house. RIAL Brasov, that still owned, through confiscation ¾ of it, leased the first floor to Nicolae Pelin.

The "game" started when Violeta Adriana Bran, the Congressman’s wife, and Vasile Bran signed the contract no.437/02.02.1996, by which they sold to Nicolae and Elena Pelin, their three room apartment located at 70A, Harmanului Street, bl.136, sc. A, ap. 30, for only three million lei. Shortly after the signing of this contract, Nicolae Pelin and Violeta Adriana Bran made an exchange through which the buyers of the apartment came into possession of the apartment and Violeta Adriana Bran together with Vasile Bran took over the apartment in Nicolae Titulescu street, which is managed by RIAL. When this exchange was made, Nicolae Pelin and Violeta Adriana Bran signed an affidavit stating they would not leave town and that this exchange was not fictitious. They gave and signed their statements on February 6, 1996. After the exchange, they signed the lease no.15, on February 1996, which makes Violeta Adriana Bran a tenant, together with her family members, Vasile Bran and Cristina Laura Bran.

Only 40 days after signing the last contract, Violeta Adriana Bran filed affidavit no.1049, on March 19, 1996, through which she transferred the leasing contract (no.15/1996), to her daughter, Cristina Laura Bran, as a consequence of her leaving the town. She did so, despite her signed affidavit not to leave the town, made on February 6, 1996. Thus, her daughter, Cristina Laura Bran, becomes the tenant on whose name the leasing contract no.33, on March 22, 1996, was concluded. Their illegal deeds become more obvious once Nicolae Pelin, former holder of the house on Nicolae Titulescu Street, applies for emigration in Canada with his wife, Elena Daniela Pelin, only 20 days after he signed the statement by which he pledged not to leave the town. The notification no. 116/571324 of the Ministry of the Interior (the department for foreigners, migrations and passports, Brasov), on April, 26, 1996, reads that " Nicolae Pelin requested to emigrate to Canada, with his wife, on February, 26, 1996. He left the country on April 1, 1996." The deputy’s wife had not left Brasov. Before leaving the country, Nicolae Pelin sold the apartment he had bought from Congressman Bran and his wife to the Congressman’s second daughter, Viviana Maria Bran. The excerpt from the Land Charter no.30019/17^th of June 1996 reads that Viviana Maria Bran purchased the apartment at 70 A, Harmanului Street. Moreover, the notification no. 4391, on June 14, 1996, of the law office within RIAL RA, shows that Vasile Bran and Violeta Adriana Bran are residing the same address. One more phony statement, since Violeta Adriana Bran had stated in March, 19, that she would give up her contract rights because she was leaving town, and on June 14, 1996, RA RIAL noticed that the congressman’s wife had not moved from there. Nicole Penile, after buying the apartment from Congressman Bran in February 1996, had sold it back to the same family in the March of the same year.

In less than a month, the Brans sold their apartment and then bought it back (on one of their daughter’s name) from Nicolae Pelin. On May, 8, 1997, while their younger daughter was the owner of the house at 29, Nicolae Titulescu street, the Brans (Cristina Laura, Vasile Violeta Adriana and Alexandru Radu) applied for a house from the Brasov County Council, stating that: " We live at 29 Nicolae Titulescu street, Brasov. On the 5^th of February, 1997, RA RIAL Brasov said that, as a result of the Brasov County Council resolution, no 122/2.12.1996, the legal committee for the enforcement of the law 112/95 has given back ¾ of the building to Mr. Bojte Ubelhart Francisc. We would like to mention that the owner wants his property back, and since we have no other holding, we ask you to approve our request". At the bottom of the application, Cristina Laura Bran, under… her mother’s signature, underlines: " I would like the apartment #1 situated at Calea Bucuresti 84, Sc.B". Thus, although they did not have a contract since March 19, 1996, and there was the resolution no.122 of the County Council, on December 2, 1996 (resolution irrevocable and final) to return the house to its rightful owner, RA RIAL rented the building to Vasile Bran and Violeta Adriana Bran again, knowing well where things stood. This is also proved by Bojte Ubelhart Francisc’s sending a complaint to RA RIAL Brasov, through which he asked them to " stop Cristina Laura Bran from selling the space she owned by the lease no.33/22 of March 1996 until the legal state of the building is settled by the county committee, authorized by the means of the Law 112/1995". Our attempts to contact Congressman Vasile Bran were in vain. Although in Bucharest, he was nowhere to be found in order to tell us his point of view regarding this case. However, he did state to a reporter from " The Brasov Monitor" that: " I can’t see anything unfair and unjust in my actions. My desire to get my children a place to live, without cheating or stealing, surely cannot be mistaken for an illegal operation". Congressman Bran has also stated to the same source that he has never resided in the house located at 29 Nicolae Titulescu Street, and that it was his daughter, Cristina who lived there. But this statement contradicts the application the deputy himself, as well as his wife and daughter, Cristina, signed in order to obtain an apartment, which clearly shows that the three members of the Bran family reside in Nicolae Titulescu Street. Bran’s comment to this was that he did not think this application was a crime and that he did not know who had written it: " I might have made this application. If this detail undermines my honesty, then you can use it. I will take a look at my application because that handwriting may not even exist. You can play on photocopier and place signatures wherever you feel like it. If I’m proven wrong, I will bore the consequences", added the deputy. He thinks that certain persons who want to denigrate him provided the documents to the press.