It is Sunday Night
Once regarded as one of the most influential politicians in the country and at the same time winning praise for her good looks and fresh approach to politics, she is now in disgrace after being held by prosecutors for 24 hours and a request already made to keep the detained for up to a month. A court will decide today (Wednesday) whether to arrest her for 30 days.
A lawyer confirmed that center-right politician Elena Udrea, who finished fourth in November’s presidential election, was detained for 24 hours late Tuesday after she entered the anti-corruption prosecutor’s office to answer charges.
Prosecutors said she is charged with influence peddling in the illegal licensing of software in schools and money laundering. She is also accused of asking EUR 500,000 (GBP 370,000) to give preferential contracts while organizing the ‘Gala Bute’ event as a minister of tourism, an event to promote the Romanian boxing champion Lucian Bute.
Lawmakers voted to approve her arrest Monday on three charges. Udrea, who founded the Popular Movement Party last year, denies wrongdoing.
The 41-year-old gained notoriety due to her close relationship with Traian Basescu, Romania’s president from 2004 to 2014. She participated in several controversial pictorials and is known for wearing expensive clothes and buying international designers purses.
The investigation is part of a case involving nine ex-ministers and several businessmen accused of facilitating contracts for preferred companies that sold Microsoft software licenses to the state.
The total value of the contract was GBP 35.5 M, out of which the defendants allegedly claimed GBP 13.1 M as a bribe. Elena Udrea’s ex-husband, businessman Dorin Cocos, has also been arrested.
The Minister however has vowed to fight the charges, saying: “They can handcuff Elena Udrea, but they cannot handcuff the truth.”
She accused General Florian Coldea, ad-interim president of the Romanian Internal Intelligence, of orchestrating her arrest because he is involved in major corruption cases himself and wants to reduce her to silence. A parliamentary commission organized a hearing for General Coldea, but did not find any proof that Mrs Udrea’s statements are true.
Elena Udrea was the minister of tourism between 2008 and 2009 and also the minister of regional development and tourism between 2009 and 2012. In her last position, she administered a yearly budget of 2.37 billion GBP.
