The president of the Vaslui County Council, Dumitru Buzatu, was putting pressure on his subordinates who were in charge of running some projects financed by European funds, so that some sums of money would be settled to the companies that had contracts, depending on their own interests. In the case in which he was caught red-handed receiving bribes, Buzatu would initially have pressured for an expert opinion to be against the builder, so that, later, he would take a personal interest in how the contracts and payments were carried out, after that the businessman who denounced him promised him a bribe.
Dumitru Buzatu in front of the PSD headquarters in KiseleffPhoto: Inquam Photos / George Călin
According to the documents of the National Anticorruption Directorate, the project carried out by the company of the businessman who reported Dumitru Buzatu to the DNA was financed from European funds through the Regional Operational Program (POR) 2014-2020 and aimed at the rehabilitation of several road sections, the entire project exceeding, as value, 222 million lei and being divided into three lots, notes News.ro. In 2019, the company awarded, as the sole bidder, two of the three lots, one worth 50.4 million lei, the other worth just over 20 million lei.
“During 2021, due to the deterioration of the relationship between Buzatu Dumitru and (…..), who controls (…..) SRL and (…..) SRL (CUI (…..) ), there are indications regarding the interventions of the president CJ Vaslui in the line of influencing the management of some public authorities with verification and control duties for the disfavor of (…..) SRL, which performs works on two of the three component lots of the 2014 – 2020 ROP project REGION NORTH-EAST – STRATEGIC ROAD AXIS 4: Vaslui – Rehabilitation and modernization of strategic county road Bârlad – Laza – Codăeşti (DJ 245, DJ 245M, DJ 247, DJ 246). Later, during the subsequent executions, suspicions were circulated regarding the violation of the quality criteria assumed by (…..) SRL, the representatives of the North-East Regional Development Agency Piatra-Neamţ recommending a technical expertise to determine the quantity and quality of the materials used , on the occasion of the control carried out on 07/06/2021 at the investment objective”, the DNA documents state.
In this context, a company from Piatra Neamţ concluded with the Vaslui County Council, in August 2021, a contract that provided for the performance of an expertise to show to what extent the provisions of the specifications for the realization of the two lots were respected. The DNA prosecutors noted, during the investigation, that Buzatu put pressure on the company’s representatives to change the results of the expertise, although the first conclusions showed that the requirements had been met.
“The actions of BUZATU DUMITRU were aimed at persuading the representative of the company (…..) SRL Neamţ, (…..), to change the results of the technical expertise in the works performed by (…..) SRL in the POR project, in the sense of confirming evidence of fraud regarding the quantity and quality of the materials used by the builder for the hidden works. The partial results of the expertise indicated compliance with the contractual requirements by (…..) SRL, the expert subsequently requesting the termination of the contract concluded with CJ Vaslui citing a series of personal problems”, states DNA.
Finally, the expertise carried out by another association made up of other companies, but controlled by the same expert, and at the beginning of 2022, the expertise led to the conclusion that the company that had carried out the works should receive several million lei less than the contract stipulated.
“The expertise triggered a dispute between the parties involved, regarding the necessary measures following the findings in the field, which also provided for the replacement of the last layer of asphalt executed by (…..) SRL. Following the performance of this expertise, the execution activities within the ROP project – SMIS Code 108704 were stopped during June 2022. (…..) In fact, from the moment of submitting the expertise, respectively from the beginning of 2022, SC (…..) SRL was supposed to receive from CJ Vaslui the sum of approx. 15,000,000 lei related to the works executed on lots 1 and 2 of the Strategic Road in Vaslui County, subsequently the sums of money would be imputed according to the conclusions of the expertise, sums communicated by the additional act no.(…..)28.02.2023. In the period 2022-2023 (…..) contacted several times the representatives of SC (…..) SRL, including the named (…..), to whom he claimed sums of money to modify in their interest the conclusions of the expertise that he submitted to the CJ Vaslui regarding the investment objective. (…..) promised the representatives of SC (…..) SRL that these adapted conclusions will be received by the decision-makers within the CJ Vaslui. The amount claimed by (…..) as a bribe was 600,000 lei plus 114.00 lei VAT, and this activity was to be concealed by concluding a service contract. At the same time, the named (…..) promised the representatives of SC (…..) SRL that the adapted conclusions will be accepted by the representatives of CJ Vaslui”, it is also stated in the prosecutors’ documents.
In mid-February, a contract was concluded regarding the “adaptation of the conclusions” of the first expertise.
“During May 2023 (…..) he submitted to the representatives of CJ Vaslui the adapted conclusions of the expertise originally submitted, activity by which he reduced to approx. 1.5 cm asphalt layer that the contractor SC (…..) SRL must pour on the surface of lots 1 and 2 of the Strategic Road. Also (…..) calculated the amounts of money that the contracting authority, CJ Vaslui, must charge the contractor as a result of the new conclusions issued, namely the amount of 1,793,720.50 lei compared to the initial amount of 5,206 .954 lei. These conclusions, as well as the centralizer with the amounts it issued (…..) were accepted by CJ Vaslui”, state the investigators.
After this fact, the president CJ Vaslui and the project managers started to delay the settlement of the amounts for the works, “arguing that the list of quantities of materials used on lots 1 and 2 of the Strategic Road drawn up by the contractor does not fit the supervisor’s requirements”.
“Accordingly, the contractor SC (…..) SRL had to accept the amount of 12,337,087 against the amount of approx. 15,000.00 lei, as was initially estimated. The delay in settling the sums of money to the contractor SC (…..) SRL by the representatives of CJ Vaslui represents a pressure on the said (…..) to accept the conditions imposed by them. It should be mentioned that the contractor carried out the works on the investment objective, respectively lots 1 and 2 of the Strategic Road in Vaslui county during the year 2021 and until September 2023 he was not paid this amount”, the documents also state Ms
Starting from May 2023, Dumitru Buzatu began to get personally involved in settling the money to the whistleblower’s company, although these duties did not belong to him, but belonged to the project manager, the technical manager and some employees of the Technical Department of the Vaslui County Council.
“The daily control exercised by the said Buzatu Dumitru over the managers of the Strategic Road project highlights the pressure he exerts to expedite the preparation of the settlement documentation for SC (…..) SRL. This step is of particular importance for the said Buzatu Dumitru because he is interested in this procedure every day and wants to be informed immediately of any action taken by the responsible officials within the CJ Vaslui”, the prosecutors also note, noting that, in reality , Buzatu was “the one who draws tasks and coordinates the activity” of those who dealt with this project developed with European funds.
“They feel the pressure exerted by the president of the CJ Vaslui on them and urgently prepare some documents by various officials within the Vaslui CJ or immediately send the tasks outlined by Buzatu Dumitru to the supervisor (…..) so that he prepares the documents that fall into his attributions. All these actions are aimed at expediting the preparation of the documentation related to the statement of the amount of money to SC (…..) SRL, payment that must be processed by the named (…..), on whom Buzatu Dumitru is exerting pressure in this regard” , notes DNA.
