Victor
Ponta is the first sitting prime minister in Romania to be indicted and to have
assets seized. Despite calls to resign, he has not indicated whether he will
step down.
Deutsche Welle, 13 July 2015
Romanian
prosecutors formally charged Prime Minister Victor Ponta with forgery, conflict
of interest, tax evasion, corruption and money laundering in connection with
his professional activities as a lawyer between 2007 and 2011, prior to when he
took office in 2012.
Investigators
from Romania's anti-corruption agency, known by its acronym DNA, accused Ponta
of receiving the equivalent of $61,000 (55,000 euros) from Dan Sova, a member
of parliament and close ally of Ponta's, whom the DNA agency suspects of abuse
of power.
Prosecutors
also "temporarily seized assets," without saying what was
confiscated. Ponta did not speak to the press after he left the prosecutor's
office on Monday.
Still PM,
despite resigning as party leader
Ponta has
repeatedly denied any wrongdoing since investigators opened the case on June 5,
saying he would cooperate fully with the investigation. He is the first sitting
Romanian prime minister to be criminally indicted.
As prime
minister, he can enjoy immunity from some of the charges, such as conflict of
interest, but he cannot dodge the tax evasion or money laundering charges.
After
prosecutors announced the investigation in June, the Romanian parliament held
two votes - one on whether to lift Ponta's immunity and the other on the
possibility of holding a vote of no-confidence. Both measures were defeated.
Romanian
President Klaus Iohannis asked Ponta to resign, but Ponta has refused.
Ponta has,
however, stepped down as leader of the Social Democratic Party, Romania's
largest party, saying he wished to prove his innocence.
This case
is the latest in a string of recent corruption investigations by the DNA agency
targeting top Romanian officials.
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