FINES ISSUED BY THE ASF IN THE CASE OF THE THEFT OF SHARES Carpatica Invest issued an account statement to someone "who just walked in off the street"

• Broker Dan Florin and the representative of the internal audit department Cornel Voie have been fined by the ASF

The process by which the head of IFC Romania, Ana Maria Mihăescu, saw shares worth 200,000 Euros stolen from her brokerage account and then sold, began on February 26th, at Carpatica Invest, where a broker issued an account statement and a list of confidential access codes to an individual that the company did not have a brokerage contract with.

This violates the internal operating rules of Carpatica Invest, meaning that the Financial Oversight Authority (ASF) has reaffirmed the fines levied against broker Dan Florin and the representative of the Internal Audit Department Cornel Voie and has denied their appeals.

Using a forged ID card, those who sold the shares of Ana Maria Mihăescu and stole the money took the account statement from Carpatica Invest, and then traded through another brokerage firm, Actinvest.

The ASF has conducted an investigation of the case, and at the end of July, it fined Dan Florin 3,000 lei and Cornel Voie 1,500 lei.

According to the ASF, "On February 26th, 2013, Mr. Dan Florin issued an account statement and a list of the confidential codes to an individual that its employer, SSIF Carpatica Invest SA had no brokerage contract concluded with, in violation of the internal regulations of the company concerning the methodology for the issuing of account statements and the lists of confidential codes by the authorized operators, a procedure which stipulates, in articles 8 and 9 that the documents in question should only be issued to customers of the company".

The Authority has acknowledged the violation of the internal procedure of the company concerning the issue of the account statements and the lists of confidential codes by the authorized operators, which represents a contravention.

At Actinvest, the brokerage firm which the trades were made through, using the fake ID and the account statement, the fines levied by the ASF were greater and more numerous (see Insert).

The ASF has sent to the Police the results of its investigation, and the competent institutions will determine whether or not the thieves had accomplices among the brokers.

The ASF has also informed the BURSA newspaper that it has fined Gina Badea broker and back office agent of brokerage firm Alpha Finance Romania SA 10,000 lei. The ASF has announced that the sanction will be published after the expiration of the delay for disputing it.