The president of the Vaslui County Council, Dumitru Buzatu, was pre-arrested on Saturday for 30 days by DNA, after he was caught red-handed with a bribe of over one million lei.
Dumitru Buzatu, leader of PSD VasluiPhoto: Agerpres
The court’s decision was announced by Buzatu’s lawyer, Daniel Atasiei.
According to Digi 24, Buzatu justified himself in front of the court that the money identified by the DNA as a bribe is only “family money”.
The Prefect of Vaslui County, Daniel Onofrei, announced that he will issue the suspension order of Dumitru Buzatu from the position of President of the Vaslui County Council at the beginning of next week, if the conditions are met.
Another person was detained on Saturday in the case of the bribe taken by the president of the Vaslui County Council, Dumitru Buzatu. According to DNA, it is about an expert, also accused of bribery, but also of influence peddling.
The spokesperson of the PSD, Lucian Romaşcanu, claims that the decisions taken by the party regarding Dumitru Buzatu – detained by the DNA for a bribe of over one million lei – and his family members who are related to the PSD were not some slight, but, “in the end, the new PSD decided to go forward in a perfectly clean and correct formula”.
PSD President Marcel Ciolacu announced on Saturday, after the meeting of the National Permanent Bureau, that Buzatu was excluded from PSD, and his son, Tudor Buzatu, resigned from the position of state secretary at the General Secretariat of the Government. Also, Dumitru Buzatu’s ex-wife, PSD senator Gabriela Creţu, was suspended from the party.
What is said in the DNA statement sent on Saturday morning:
“The prosecutors from the National Anticorruption Directorate – Iași Territorial Service ordered the initiation of criminal proceedings and the detention for 24 hours, starting on September 23, 2023, of the defendant Buzatu Dumitru, president of the Vaslui County Council, for committing the crime of taking of bribery.
In the order of the prosecutors, it is stated that, in the case, there are data and evidence that outline the following state of facts:
- In the period 08.05.2023 – 07.09.2023, the defendant Buzatu Dumitru, in the capacity mentioned above, allegedly demanded from a businessman (witness in question) sums of money, representing a percentage of 10% of the value of a purchase contract public contract that the latter had concluded with the Vaslui County Council and which had as its object the rehabilitation and modernization of some roads in Vaslui County so that the contract is carried out in good conditions (payment of invoices).
- In the context mentioned above, on September 22, 2023, the defendant Buzatu Dumitru would have received the sum of 1,250,000 lei, on which occasion the flagrant crime was established. (…)
On September 23, 2023, the defendant is to be presented to the Vaslui Court with a proposal for preventive arrest for 30 days.”
Flagrant with a bribe of 1.25 million lei
He was detained for 24 hours, and on Saturday he will be presented to the Vaslui Court with a proposal for preventive arrest for 30 days.
Buzatu, one of the oldest PSD leaders and the head of the Vaslui County Council, was caught red-handed by the Iasi DNA while receiving a 1.25 million lei bribe.
According to sources cited by Vremea Noua newspaper it would be a bribe given for the continuation of the strategic road Bârlad – Laza – Codăești.
