Head of National Anticorruption Directorate, Laura Codruta Kovesi, asked for the notification of the Presidency, the Senate, the Chamber of Deputies and the European Parliament
Laura Codruta Kovesi, the head of the DNA, sent to the Attorney General Tiberiu Nitu, in order to notify the President of Romania, the Senate, The Chamber of Deputies and the European Parliament, requests to prosecute nine people who, during the time in which they served as ministers, allegedly committed the offenses. This is regarding the EADS-Microsoft file, about which Sursa Zilei reported exclusively in the last three months.
Here is the DNA’s release:
ECATERINA ANDRONESCU (currently Senator – Romanian Parliament), Minister of Education and Research during December 28th, 2000 – June 19th, 2003; December 22nd, 2008 – October 1st, 2009; Minister of Education, Research and Innovation during 2008 – 2012, for committing the crimes of abuse of office, bribery, nepotism and money laundering, in the period in which she was a Minister.
VREME VALERIAN (currently Deputy), Minister of Communications and Informational Society, minister from September 2010 to February 2012, for committing the crime of abuse of office during the period in which he was a Minister.
MIHAILESCU PETRU SERBAN (currently Senator – Romanian Parliament), Coordinator Minister of SGG (the Government’s General Secretariat) during December 2000 – October 2003, for committing the crimes of incitement to abuse of office, nepotism and money laundering during the period in which he was a Minister.
The chief prosecutor of the National Anticorruption Directive sent to the attorney general of the Tribunal from near the High Court of Cassation and Justice, in accordance with the legal and constitutional provisions, the report in order to notify the European Parliament to formulate the request for the prosecution of:
NICA DAN (currently a member of the European Parliament), Minister of Communications and Informational Technology from 2000 to July 2004, for committing the crimes of abuse of office, bribery, nepotism and money laundering.
In accordance with the legal and constitutional provisions, the chief prosecutor of the National Anticorruption Directive sent, to the attorney general of the Tribunal from near the High Court of Cassation and Justice, the report in order to notify the President of Romania to formulate the request for the prosecution of:
TICAU ADRIANA, Minister of Communications and Informational Technology during July – December 2004
SANDU GABRIEL, Minister of Communications and Informational Society during December 2008 – September 2010
FUNERIU PETRU – DANIEL, Minister of Education and Research during 2009 – 2012
ATHANASIU ALEXANDRU, Minister of Education and Research during 2003 – 2005
TANASESCU MIHAI NICOLAE, Minister of Public Finances during 2000 – 2004
The request for the prosecution is considering that, at this time, there are some aspects that result in reasonable suspicion which outlines the following fact:
The National Anticorruption Directive was notified on the 5th of June, 2013, by the Control Institute of the Prime Minister, following the control at the Ministry for Informational Society and at the Ministry of National Education, regarding the rental of educational licenses.
Since the Control Report resulted clues regarding signing, in illegal conditions, the commercial contract, of 15.04.2004, for renting licenses, subsequently extended for educational Microsoft products, the addenda to this contract and to the related contracts of the “Computerized Educational System”, the DNA notified itself about crimes of abuse of office and respectively corruption offenses regarding the ongoing of these contracts.
In this way, evidence was obtained, showing that ministers Nica Dan, Petru Serban Mihailescu, Adriana Ticau, Athanasiu Alexandru, Tanasescu Mihai Nicolae and Gabriel Sandu exercised, in bad faith, their work duties, causing the end of the licensing contract of 15.04.2004 in onerous conditions for the state budget, providing the possible failure of a discount of about 47% given by Microsoft on account of the Romanian Government, and thus allowing the payment of some commissions to those involved. At the same time, there are indications that the aforementioned persons have demanded and received sums of money to exercise their work duties defectively and to use their influence over other people in order to promote the Fujitsu Siemens Computers Company in connection with signing and carrying out the Microsoft licensing agreement.
Thus, the Microsoft licensing framework contract was signed in breach of the legal provisions regarding public acquisitions, invoking the unreal quality of sole distributor for the Fujitsu Siemens Computers Company, at a price that was at least 40% higher than the real one, based on an unnecessary foundation.
The extension regarding educational products was also achieved with the violation of the laws regarding public acquisitions, given that the targets of the framework contract were licenses for the public administration; Fujitsu Siemens Computers Company was not a distributor of educational products, and only private firms benefitted of the discounts provided by the Microsoft Company on the account of the Romanian Government.
Moreover, according to the letters of comfort and to the promissory notes that were issued, the Romanian Government guaranteed the credit, while the Fujitsu Siemens Computers Company, which asserted that they were the ones that came with the funding offer, would make no guarantee for the contract.
The investigations that were carried out show that out of the 54 million USD paid by the Romanian Government under the contract framework and the extension of November 2004, 20 million USD represent charges issued by those involved in the Romanian Government’s project.
At the same time, from the evidence in question until this moment of the investigation and from the concluded controls, results the fact that the signing and the carrying out of the contract for renting the Enterprise Agreement Subscription type Microsoft licenses, with D-CONT.NET consortium (MSCI MS-EAS) happened with the breach, by Ministers Daniel Petru Funeriu and Gabriel Sandu, of the legal provisions on public acquisitions, without an economical or technical foundation, in order to favor certain companies. There are indications that the value of the goods and services was overstated because it included the commissions issued by those involved in the signing and implementation of the contracts.
Also, research on the “Educational System Program”, regarding the implementation of computer-assisted education by equipping schools with computer laboratories, with an estimated value of 200 million USD, have produced reasonable clues on the breaching of work duties and committing corruption offenses by the persons that were involved.
Thus, the price of the software solutions is not founded and exceeds the market price; there are no clear specifications of the market price, and the lack of real auctions has led to inflated purchase prices for both equipment and software.
It emerged from the evidence that the procurement process was restricted, and through the signing of the contract and accepting its divestiture it was aimed to favor the Siveco Company and other collaborating companies, while the technical specifications of the deliverables in the specifications notebook led towards IBM or Compaq, and the technical specifications of the software towards Siveco. Procurement under the “Educational System Program” was made at prices that were 50% higher than normal, and the continuing of the project with the Siveco Company, during phase IV, was imposed due to the onerous conditions of the finance leasing contract that was in progress, although the control documents were recommending an acquisition procedure.
The clues that were shown demonstrate the existence of a mechanism that was designed to create a higher profit for the subcontracting firms, profit from which the amounts necessary to pay the bribes were taken out through offshore accounts, through fictitious contract services. Sums of money in the form of bribe were paid either by bank transfers to companies nominated by the persons that represented the contracting authority or were removed as cash from banks outside of Romania’s territory and brought back in the country also as cash using various intermediaries, all of this being done in order to conceal the source of the income.
As a result, it has been required:
1. Notifying the European Parliament in order to formulate the request for the prosecution of:
NICA DAN, Minister of MCTI during 2000 – July 2004, and currently a member of the European Parliament, for committing the crimes of abuse of office, bribery, nepotism and money laundering, being that he would have proceeded to approve the budget for the “Computerized Educational System” and for the project with the Microsoft licensing; he would have initiated and approved Government Decisions drafts through which he aimed that the Fujitsu Siemens Computers and Siveco companies, and the companies which collaborated with them, were favored; he would have established, through a Memorandum, the companies that were to participate in the fulfilling of the project, stating that they belong to a consortium, when in fact they didn’t; he would have established project participation percentages to favor certain companies; he would have accepted the ceasing of the contract by SIVECO, although he had claimed the necessity to purchase from the same source; he would have facilitated the contract for SIVECO and its collaborators in terms of lack of competition, signing the contract in onerous terms for the Ministry that he was leading, his actions resulting in harm to the state budget due to purchasing goods and services at prices higher than the market’s: the licenses at about 30-40% higher price, the computers and the software at prices about 50% higher than those of the same goods and services on the market.
During April – November 2004, he would have requested and received a portion of the 20 million USD paid by the Fujitsu Siemens Computers Company into an offshore account belonging to a consulting and technical assistance firm that was in the contract signed with the Romanian Government, so that, using the influence which he had, he would make sure that the contract was signed in the terms proposed by the Fujitsu Siemens Computers Company.
2. Notifying the Romanian President in order to formulate the request for the prosecution of:
TICAU ADRIANA, Minister of Communication and Informational Technology during July – December 2004, for committing the crimes of abuse of office, bribery, nepotism and money laundering, being that she would have approved the budget for the “Computerized Educational System” and for the project with the Microsoft licensing; she would have initiated and approved Government Decisions drafts through which she aimed that the Fujitsu Siemens Computers and Siveco companies, and the companies which collaborated with them, were favored, her actions resulting in harm to the state budget due to purchasing goods and services at prices higher than the market’s: the licenses at about 30-40% higher price, the computers and the software at prices about 50% higher than those of the same goods and services on the market.
SANDU GABRIEL, Minister of Communications and Informational Society during December 2008 – September 2010, for committing the crimes of abuse of office, bribery, nepotism and money laundering, being that he would have initiated and countersigned the GD no. 456 of the 15th of April, 2009 for conferring the competence for MCSI to conduct an open auction, a closed auction or a negotiation with prior publication of a participation notice, where appropriate, in concluding a framework agreement which aimed to purchase the right to use the software by renting with the option of buying. Also, he would have signed the framework agreement associating CON.NET (leader), D-CON.NET GmbH, COMSOFT DIRECT AG, BECHTLE HOLDING SCHWEIZ, and DOM SOFT SRL, while the purchase documentation included restrictive criteria to promote the above mentioned association without regarding the prices that were imposed, reported to those charged by Microsoft in relation to SC DIM SOFT SRL and later by SC DIM SOFT SRL in relation to D-CON.NET GmbH; he would have claimed from a lawyer the sum of 1.8 million EUR to ensure the continuation of the Microsoft licensing agreement; he would have claimed and received from a certain person, through an intermediary, the amount of 3 million EUR, money that were transferred to an offshore society to facilitate the association of D-CON.NET (leader), D-CON.NET GmbH, COMSOFT DIRECT AG, BECHTLE HOLDING SCHWEIZ, and DOM SOFT SRL, concluding the framework agreement for 2009 – 2012 to purchase the right to use the software through renting with the option of buying.
FUNERIU PETRU – DANIEL, Minister of Education and Research during 2009 – 2012, for committing the crime of abuse of office, being that he would have signed and promoted for approval “The note regarding Microsoft licenses used by MECTS in schools” where it is certified, contrary to the legal provisions and the contractual terms of the Framework Agreement no. 32 of the 12th of August 2009, that it “allows the signing of a subsequent contract regarding the increasing of MECTS licenses for schools”, all of these while GD no. 460/2009 did not regulate the situation of the licenses for schools. The consequence was concluding the supply contract no. 108 of the 17th of August 2011, under which MCSI paid the total fees of 8.825.673,50 EUR; through the letters no. 10126 of the 19th of January 2011 and no. 12211 of the 5th of July, 2011, he would have ordered the renting of a total of 179.259 licenses for the ProDesktop packet types and 6.828 licenses for Windows Server operating systems while the need for licenses was established without regarding the hardware configuration of the computers, and considering all the work stations and the servers purchased during 2001 – 2008 through the SEI1 – SEI5 programs and rural; on the 17th of August 2011, he would have signed a supply contract, under which MCSI was obligated to pay the fees for the total number of 179.259 licenses, 72.990 licenses more than the number of usable licenses in the educational system in relation to the number of computers that were compatible with the new software products, resulting in the creation of a new obligation to pay a price that was about 5.4 million EUR greater than the price for renting the licenses that were actually usable.
ATHANASIU ALEXANDRU, Minister of Education and Research during 2003 – 2005, for committing the crimes of abuse of office, bribery, nepotism and money laundering, being that he would have approved the budget for the “Computerized Educational System” Program and for the Microsoft licensing project; he would have initiated and approved Government Decisions drafts through which he aimed that the Compaq and Siveco companies and the companies that were collaborating with them were favored, his actions resulting in harm to the state budget due to the purchase of goods and services at prices higher than the market’s: the licenses at about 30-40% higher price, the computers and the software at prices about 50% higher than those of the same goods and services on the market.
TANASESCU MIHAI NICOLAE, Minister of Public Finances during 2000 – 2004, for committing the crimes of abuse of office, bribery, nepotism and money laundering, being that he would have approved the budget for the “Computerized Educational System” Program and for the Microsoft licensing project; he would have initiated and approved Government Decisions drafts through which he aimed that the Fujitsu Siemens Computers and Siveco companies and the companies that were collaborating with them were favored, his actions resulting in harm to the state budget due to the purchase of goods and services at prices higher than the market’s: the licenses at about 30-40% higher price, the computers and the software at prices about 50% higher than those of the same goods and services on the market; during June 2003 – November 2004, he would have claimed and received, from two persons, through intermediaries, sums of money from the receipts of Fujitsu Siemens Computers CA, as a result of the Microsoft licensing contract. Thus, in July 2004, in the personal account of someone from the Minister’s family, the sum of 82.000 EUR was transferred from the account of a company from Liechtenstein, in justification: “direct inv of non-Romanian residents – other assets – non-banks sector”. From the investigations that were done resulted that the Liechtenstein firm was controlled by one of the intermediaries and it received money from a company exclusively fueled with funds obtained by the Fujitsu Siemens Computers Company.
3. Notifying the Romanian Senate in order to formulate the request for the prosecution of:
MIHAILESCU PETRU SERBAN, Coordinator Minister of the SGG during December 2000 – October 2003 and currently Senator in the Romanian Parliament, for committing the crimes of abuse of office, nepotism and money laundering, being that he would have gotten another Minister to sign GD no. 1473/2003, GD no. 470/2004 and the Microsoft Licensing Contract under the conditions which he negotiated during the time in which he was Coordinator Minister of the SGG, namely accepting the technical and financial offer sent by the Fujitsu Siemens Computers Company, without acknowledging the existence of legal impediments arising from the fact that this company was the sole distributor of Microsoft licenses (to benefit from the conclusion of the contract through direct custody) and without detailing how the price was established, the discount given in consideration of the Romanian Government and the sale price of Fujitsu Siemens Computers; during April to November 2004 he would have claimed and received a portion of the 20 million USD sent by the Fujitsu Siemens Computers to the account of some offshore consulting and technical assistance companies that were appeared in the contract with the Romanian Government, so that, under the influence that he had he would ensure the completion of the contract on the terms proposed by the Fujitsu Siemens Computers Company.
ECATERINA ANDRONESCU, Minister of Education and Research during the 28th of December 2000 – June 19th 2003, Minister of Education, Research and Innovation during the 22nd of December 2008 – 1st of October 2009 and currently Senator in the Romanian Parliament, for committing the crimes of abuse of office, bribery, nepotism and money laundering, being that she would have approved the budget for the “Computerized Educational System” Program and for the Microsoft Licensing project; she would have initiated and approved Government Decisions drafts through which she aimed that the Compaq and Siveco companies and the companies that were collaborating with them were favored; she would have established, through a Memorandum, the companies that would participate to accomplish the project, confirming that they were part of a consortium, when in fact they were not; she would have determined the project participation percentages in favor of some companies; she would have accepted the ceasing of the contract by SIVECO, although claiming the need to purchase from the same source; she would have facilitated for SIVECO and for the collaborating firms the signing of the contract in the terms of lack of competition, concluding the contract on onerous terms for the Ministry that she was leading, all of these resulting in harming the state budget through the purchase of goods and services and prices higher than those of the market: licenses at prices about 30-40% higher, computers and software at prices up to 50% higher than those of similar goods and services on the market; during 2001 – 2009 she would have claimed and received, from SIVECO and from collaborating companies, undue benefits consisting of sums of money or computers, for herself or for another, in order to ensure the development of projects with the Ministry.
4. Notifying the Chamber of Deputies, in order to formulate the request for the prosecution of:
VREME VALERIAN, Minister of Communications and Informational Society, during September 2010 – February 2012 and currently Deputy in the Romanian Parliament, for committing the crime of abuse of office, being that he would have signed the subsequent contract regarding supplementing the number of MECTS licenses for schools – the contract of supplying goods no. 108 of the 17th of August 2011 under which MCSI paid the total fees of 8.825.673,50 EUR, while GD no. 460/2009 did not regulate the situation of the licenses for schools, and the price of the licenses does not reflect the discount awarded by Microsoft, and it did not take any action regarding the issues raised by FTS Romania through letter no. 4550 / 02.12.2012, regarding the services that were not provided
O.C.