The Scenario For A Scandal Geoana, Bazac Families Targeted By Baneasa Investment Scandal?

Darius Porumboiu

• Health Minister Ion Bazac"s name, more and more often mentioned in the MoI scandal, in the same context as the former father-in-law of football player Adrian Mutu • Businessman Gabriel Popoviciu, who controls Baneasa Investment, is the wedding godfather of Ionut Costea, the brother-in-law of Mircea Geoana • The PSD leader is allegedly building a villa in the residential compound in Baneasa through one of the Health minister"s companies • The stakes of Ion Bazac"s office as Health minister: the National Pharmaceutical Company, formed by Antibiotice and Sanevit, the former company where Bazac"s father was a shareholder and a director, later taken over by businessman Sorin Ovidiu Vintu, whose recent associate, Cozmin Gusa, is the new political consultant of Mircea Geoana

The ongoing Baneasa Investment scandal has already led to the most spectacular arrests since 1989 and seems to be interweaved up to the highest levels of the co-ruling party PSD, whose president, Mircea Geoana, seems to be the target.

Gabriel Popoviciu, the influential businessman who was taken into custody by the National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA) on Tuesday evening together with the leaders of the Ministry of Interior (MoI) intelligence service, is the wedding godfather of Ionut Costea, the brother-in-law of Mircea Geoana. Moreover, PSD sources have indicated that one of the companies controlled by Health Minister Ion Bazac is building several villas in Gabriel Popoviciu"s residential complex in Baneasa. One of them is allegedly for Mircea Geoana. The information has not been confirmed officially, but increasingly more numerous allegations made in the last few days indicate that the targets of the DNA-orchestrated scandal are in fact the Geoana and Bazac families.

The DNA yesterday confirmed the media information that Cornel Serban, the former head of the intelligence service of the MoI, who has been indicted in the Baneasa Investment case, had allegedly provided a Romanian State official with the itemized phone call list of a politician in exchange for being promoted to the office of deputy director of the intelligence service of the MoI. The DNA confirmed the information without naming the official. The media has already speculated that it is Tiberiu Dinu, Romania"s Consul to Milan and brother-in-law to Minister Ion Bazac.

The Bazac family holds shares in Forza Rossa Romania, and so does Alexandra Dinu, the daughter of Romania"s consul to Milan and formerly the wife of football player Adrian Mutu. In fact, the business connection between the Bazac family and Forza Rossa, which materialized in the Forza Rossa dealership in Romania is also credited to Consul Tiberiu Dinu"s connections in Italy.

According to some sources, Cornel Serban allegedly tried to block the publication in the media of some information about the Bazac family businesses. Transcripts of phone conversations confirming such actions are said to be part of the criminal case being prepared by the DNA. According to our knowledge, the information was actually about the Bazacs and Sanevit, the largest syringe factory in Romania.

One of the first measures announced by the incumbent Health minister was to create the National Pharmaceutical Company through the merger of Antibiotice, Sanevit and other entities controlled by the Health Ministry. What is less known is that the Bazac family was involved before in the Sanevit case, after 1990. Ion Bazac, the father of the minister, was a significant shareholder and a Director in Sanevit, which took a State-guaranteed 60 million USD loan, which was later on transferred to AVAB. In 2002, when Ion Bazac Jr. was a State Secretary in the Health Ministry, the State"s stock in Sanevit was transferred from AVAB to the Ministry of Health.

Ion Bazac Sr. remained a Director in the company after it was taken over by Sorin Ovidiu Vintu, who listed it on the Bucharest Stock Exchange as the first private company to do so. Coincidentally, Sorin Ovidiu Vintu is now providing political consultancy to PSD leader Mircea Geoana through Cozmin Gusa. This scenario seems to confirm speculations that the Baneasa Investment criminal case, which has been on the prosecutors" table for over seven years, has been brought back to life for political reasons.