EXCLUSIVE - THE HEAD OF THE SUPERVISORY BOARD OF TRANSELECTRICA DEFENDS HIMSELF: "I am innocent and the courts will confirm that"

The Court of and the Craiova Court of Appeal have rejected the proposal for preventive arrest rendered against him by the Court of Gorj, in the case in which he is being investigated for abuse in office against the interests of the state, with extremely serious consequences, said Dumitru Pârvulescu, the president of the Supervisory Board of Transelectrica.

He said: "I am not charged with corruption and I am not being investigated for taking bribes, like the press has been alleging lately. The charges are abetment of abuse in office. Since I am not being investigated for corruption, I can continue to hold public positions. I am innocent and the courts will continue to see my innocence. I have full confidence in the courts and I am convinced that the truth will be reestablished in court. The presumption of innocence works in my favor, and it must be honored in lawful country".

In the court ruling of September 4th, 2012, the Court of Gorj states: "Based on the investigation data it is found that the defendant (Dumitru Pârvulescu), did not, in any way, through requests or by appealing to friendship, cause the defendant Pavel Ion Florin - the mayor of the commune of Peştişani - to sign two contracts of assignment of receivables on July 2nd, 2009, worth 2.5 million lei to Şerban Doru Aristică and Şerban Marioara, without the approval of the Local Council of Peştişani. In fact, the two contracts for the assignment of receivables, which express the will of the parties, were signed by defendant Pavel Ion Florin upon the insistent requests of Doru Aristică and of the representatives of Tech Safety, as specified by this defendant in his statement given during the investigation, and not at all at the request of the defendant Dumitru Pârvulescu, who, on that date had the position of head of the Administration of Public Finances for Medium Taxpayers (...). Therefore, the measure of preventive arrest may not be taken against Dumitru Pârvulescu , nor any others, less severe preventive measures".

The court also finds that Dumitru Pârvulescu did not intervene in any way in the signing of the assignment contracts and that Pavel Ion Florin has consulted with Mr. Pârvulescu, who informed him that the two contracts for the assignment of receivables can not be settled through the Treasury of Gorj, because the payment can not be done to individuals, only to companies.

The two contracts for the assignment of the receivables have been cancelled in court because they were concluded by Tech Safety Târgu Jiu in order to defraud BRD, as the manager of the company used the receivable as collateral for a loan taken out from this bank.

Dumitru Pârvulescu told us: "The contracts for the assignment of receivables were concluded and signed at the office of a lawyer of Târgu Jiu, where they were given a clear date. After having concluded and signed the two contracts, Pavel Ion started asking everyone he knew whether the two contracts were valid. Since I was the one that was contacted by Pavel Ion after he concluded and signed the two contracts, how could I have been the one to abet him to sign them? Why weren't the other people whom the same Pavel Ion asked whether the contracts were valid, investigated as well? There is not one shred of evidence that would support the accusations in the indictment".

He claims that there has been no loss that occurred as a result of the conclusion of these two contracts and that the assignments in question were never disputed, since they were annulled by a court. The president of the Supervisory Board of Transelectrica said: "I have no connection to the losses that are mentioned in the case and I have no connection to the other people who were indicted. The Court of Gorj, as well as the Court of Appeal of Craiova, by rejecting the request for arrest, have found that the requirements of art. 143 of the Criminal Procedure Code are not met, since there aren't even hints of a possible guilt. After the rejection of the proposed arrest the prosecutor did not present any further evidence".

In its ruling of September 11th, the Court of Appeal of Craiova states that the ruling issued by the Court of Gorj is legal and warranted and there is no evidence "that Dumitru Pârvulescu sought any benefits for himself or for another, through the conclusion of the two assignment contracts, as the measure of preventive arrest towards the defendant is not justified or opportune". The Court states that the trial can take place normally even if Dumitru Pârvules-cu remains free.

The trial is currently at the High Court of Cassation and Justice and the next hearing is set for April 11th.