Horaţiu Potra asked Frank Timiş for 30 million dollars to support Călin Georgescu; in return, the country's gold mines

The press releases presented by the Prosecutor General's Office at the end of last week show us that, for at least one of the six crimes for which Călin Georgescu is being prosecuted, there is a connection with the case in which Horaţiu Potra, his son and 19 other accomplices are being prosecuted, for which the prosecutors have requested the court to issue 30-day preventive arrest warrants. This is the crime of actions against the constitutional order, a crime for which Călin Georgescu is being prosecuted as an instigator, and Horaţiu Potra and those around him are being prosecuted as potential perpetrators, being prosecuted for attempted actions against the constitutional order, for failing to comply with the weapons and ammunition regime, carrying out operations with pyrotechnic articles without the right and public instigation.

According to the prosecutors handling the respective cases, one of the important pieces of evidence in the criminal investigation is the relationship that Horaţiu Potra, Călin Georgescu's right-hand man, has with the controversial businessman Frank Timiş, who fled the country several years ago. The prosecutors show that, in a text message sent in April 2022 to Frank Timiş, Horaţiu Potra made the following request:

"Long live, Mr. Frank. I hope you are in good health. Mr. Călin Georgescu contacted me, he was in the Club of Rome with Isărescu and was the director of the environment at the UN. He wants to run for the presidency of Romania in 2024 and is looking for sponsors to help him. He said that if he wins, he wants to reopen all the mines in Ro (ed. - Romania), and especially the Gold ones (ed. - among the gold mining areas is Roşia Montană). He says he already has the support of the Americans who campaigned for him for Trump and those who negotiated the UK's exit from the EU. He asked me if I could talk to you about some support. When he told me that he needed 20-35 million for the campaign, I took the liberty of telling him that Mr. Frank has "Mining Elephants in Africa", he doesn't really want to get involved in Romania (ed. - Romania). That's what you once said about the mines in Africa (Elephants), compared to the mines in Romania. I think he contacted me because a former colleague from the Legion, who knows that I work for you, is close to him, took care of his children. Mr. Georgescu said that he can negotiate anything with you, because only with people like you can he bring Romania's economy back to the surface. Hardworking, smart, faithful, patriotic people, not globalist servants. Respect, Horea".

Sources from the General Prosecutor's Office quoted by the press state that this message is considered by prosecutors to be a key piece in the file that revealed a possible network of financial influence around Călin Georgescu's candidacy in the 2024 presidential elections.

From the analysis of the way Potra addresses Frank Timiş, we note that these two know each other and that it is not a simple friendship, but rather a business relationship done together. The way in which Călin Georgescu's mercenary asks Timiş for money is not one from friend to friend, but as between business partners: "you give me the necessary money and you get something in return".

Basically, Călin Georgescu's candidacy for the presidency of Romania is presented as a business in this message that exists in the files investigated by the General Prosecutor's Office. The dangerous fact is that Călin Georgescu himself seems to view this candidacy as a business. Where does this come from? From Potra's statement that he was sought out by Georgescu through a comrade-in-arms from the Foreign Legion, as well as from the following statements that the mercenary puts in the mouth of Călin Georgescu: "He said that, if he wins, he wants to reopen all the mines in Ro (ed. - Romania), and especially the gold mines (ed. - among the gold mining areas is Roşia Montană). (...) He told me if I could talk to you about some support. When he told me that he needed 20-35 million for the campaign, I took the liberty of telling him that Mr. Frank has "Mining Elephants in Africa"".

• Potra's promise to Frank Timiş, indirectly reiterated by Călin Georgescu

However, it seems that Potra failed to convince Frank Timiş to invest in Călin Georgescu's candidacy. Timiş's decision was not based on the fact that he did not want the gold mines in Romania, since he is a gold and diamond mining magnate on the African continent, but rather that he considered Horaţiu Potra's proposal doomed to failure. On the other hand, Timiş did not believe in Călin Georgescu's chances of winning the presidential elections, especially since in April 2022 the latter was not on any radar of opinion polls conducted by all sociological institutes in our country, not even in the chapter of trustworthy personalities and had not yet appeared in the TikTok area. As for Călin Georgescu, it seems that he indirectly reiterated the offer made to Frank Timiş by Horaţiu Potra. Thus, in an interview given in January 2024 to Robert Turcescu who asked him about his position on the gold reserves in Transylvania, Călin Georgescu firmly replied: "With me as president, the mines open in zero seconds."

Leaving aside Călin Georgescu's untrue statement - a president cannot open the mines in zero seconds, because that is the responsibility of the Ministry of Economy or the Ministry of Energy and environmental agreements issued by the Ministry of Environment, Waters and Forests are also needed - his reference to the gold mines, in the context in which the Roşia Montană scandal was on the agenda of the day in the period January-March 2024 (finalized with the decision of March 8, 2024 of the ICSID in favor of the Romanian state and against the company Gabriel Resources), was an indirect message addressed to Frank Timiş.

Why do we say this? Because the Australian of Romanian origin, Frank Timiş, partnered in 1997 with the National Company for the exploitation of the gold deposits in Roşia Montană. According to an investigation conducted by Rise Project, Frank Timiş made his first big move in Transylvania in the mid-1990s, when he concessioned large areas in the Apuseni Mountains. In Romania, Timiş did not officially manage any business, but his branches in Bucharest and Deva grew year by year, with the help of the state, coming to hold exploration and exploitation licenses for gold, oil or natural gas on huge areas of Romanian territory. Frank Timiş's business scheme involved taking over or establishing small companies on the Canadian stock exchange, which he then used in contracts with the Romanian state. Based on the contracts and licenses obtained, without a tender, Timiş managed to attract major investors on the stock exchange for his projects. The money thus obtained was then channeled, in the form of interest-bearing loans, to the Romanian subsidiaries that acquired new deposits. Among the most famous projects developed by him were Roşia Montană and Regal Petroleum. The latter, in 2004, concessioned large areas of land in Suceava and Bârlad. These are the same perimeters where Chevron was looking for shale gas, a deal that sparked numerous protests. As in the case of the Roşia Montană business, founded by Timiş in 1996 and then sold on the stock exchange to other investors.

• Potra-Timiş, a well-known business duo in West and Central Africa

Frank Timiş's relationship with Horaţia Potra is a very old one, because only in this way can the fact that the latter directly asked him for a significant amount for Călin Georgescu's campaign be explained. According to an investigation by the Rise Project, between 2012 and 2018, Horaţiu Potra was actively involved in the African mining industry, working for three years for businessman Frank Timiş and then another three years for a large Chinese corporation. Dealing millions of dollars, Potra played a key role in securing mining operations in Africa. When he joined in April 2012, Potra was the security director at African Minerals Limited (AML), a London-based mining company controlled by Frank Timiş. The company managed extensive mining operations in West Africa, including Sierra Leone, a country rich in precious minerals: diamonds, gold, iron, rutile, bauxite and lithium (essential for modern technologies). Frank Timiş entered the Sierra Leone mining market in 2004, after the country's civil war that lasted from 1991 to 2002. Timis took over diamond concessions from the then president's cronies, Ahmad Tejan Kabbah. This strategic move gave him access to valuable deposits and a favorable business environment. Listed on the AIM stock exchange in London, shares of African Minerals - Frank Timis' company - experienced moderate growth until 2010, when their price suddenly tripled. The reason? Frank Timis announced the discovery of a huge magnetite deposit in the Tonkolili district, valued at 11.9 billion tons of iron ore, with an estimated operational life of 60 years.

The sharp increase in interest in Sierra Leone's minerals attracted the attention of large Chinese corporations, which were experiencing economic expansion in Africa. The first major Chinese investor was China Railway Materials Commercial Corporation, which bought 12.3% of the shares of the company owned by Frank Timis, and in September 2011, metallurgical giant Shandong Iron and Steel Group (SISG) acquired 25% of the subsidiary Tonkolili Iron Ore Ltd. Frank Timis described this partnership as a major advantage for African Minerals, providing significant financing and accelerating the development of the infrastructure needed for mineral exploitation.

Thanks to this partnership, AML has become the largest employer in Sierra Leone, creating jobs for over 10,000 people.

We also show that in 2015, while Horaţiu Potra was coordinating the security of the manganese mine in Tambao, Burkina Faso, owned by Frank Timiş, one of his employees, Iulian Gherguţ, was kidnapped by a local branch of the Al Qaeda terrorist group, the Romanian state managing to release him only after eight years of negotiations, in 2023.

• Horaţiu Potra - key character in a risky political game

Horaţiu Potra, the mercenary who mediated the discussion between Georgescu and Timiş, is not an unknown name in circles of influence. Born in 1970 in Mediaş, Potra has had a complex career. After dropping out of electrical engineering studies in 1992, he joined the French Foreign Legion, where he served until 1997. He later served as head of personal security for the Emir of Qatar, Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani.

Starting in the 2000s, Horaţiu Potra, a former member of the French Foreign Legion, organized paramilitary training camps in Romania aimed at the physical and tactical training of select groups. These camps, held in various wooded areas, aimed to train participants in survival techniques, hand-to-hand combat, and firearms handling. Potra said he spent "years of training in the forests, in the ranges" with his colleagues in Mediaş.

In 2002-2003, he was an instructor for the presidential guard of President Ange-Felix Patasse of the Central African Republic, operating under the pseudonym "Lieutenant Henry". After this experience, he founded the private security company RALF-ROLE and became involved in the diamond trade between Sierra Leone, Brussels, Antwerp and Tel Aviv. In 2022, Potra became the local leader of the nationalist party Alliance for the Fatherland in Mediaş, promoting a policy focused on traditional Romanian values and demonstrating against support for Ukraine. He was also involved in the electoral campaign of Călin Georgescu, the independent candidate in the 2024 presidential elections. In addition to attempting to obtain financing from Frank Timiş, Potra provided Georgescu with cash and provided him with a luxury car, a Mercedes GLE Coupe, rented from Ţiriac Auto. These actions were revealed during an investigation by the Prosecutor General's Office, which found that Georgescu had not declared these funds in his official campaign documents.

In 2010, Potra's activities attracted the attention of the authorities. Following searches carried out by DIICOT, an impressive arsenal was discovered in his home, including pistols with lethal ammunition, bulletproof vests, grenades and swords. Quantities of cannabis were also found, leading to charges of drug trafficking and illegal possession of weapons. Chief Commissioner Traian Berbeceanu, who coordinated the operation, described Potra as "an extremely dangerous man", stressing that the weapons found could be used in a terrorist act. However, following the trial, Potra was acquitted of the drug trafficking charges, being convicted only of illegal possession of weapons. The sentence was 2 years and 8 months in prison, suspended.

In 2013, Potra's name reappeared in the public eye in the context of the detention of Chief Commissioner Traian Berbeceanu, who claimed that the actions against him were a set-up orchestrated by certain state structures, noting that he had dismantled, among other things, the paramilitary network led by Potra. At that time, Traian Berbeceanu seemed alone in front of everyone, even in front of Horaţiu Potra who was witnessing the police bringing the former Chief Commissioner to the High Court of Cassation and Justice, according to a photo published at the time by the BURSA newspaper.

In other words, Berbeceanu accused the Romanian state of collaborating with Horaţiu Potra, who knows which doors to knock on to carry out his business tolerated by the white collars at the top of the Romanian state's law enforcement institutions. It seems that the accusations brought by Traian Berbeceanu against state structures in 2013 have a grain of truth, since recently, the Minister of National Defense, Angel Tîlvăr, ordered the start of a large-scale inspection of military units in the country to see which employees took unpaid leave in order to enlist in Horaţiu Potra's mercenary troops in Congo and other African countries. It is hard to believe for anyone that a unit commander does not ask himself questions when his best men go on unpaid leave for three or six months and does not ask them what they will do. Potra may not have had access to high-ranking officers in the Ministry of National Defense, but it is possible that certain unit commanders supported him in his efforts to recruit future mercenaries.

It remains to be seen whether the General Prosecutor's Office investigation will reveal exactly how the Potra group planned to act against the constitutional order and whether Horaţiu Potra received an order to do so from Călin Georgescu.