“Caught in the act while taking a bribe”, “A new case of corruption in Romanian customs”, “Policeman accused of abuse of office”, are just a few of the headlines in recent months that refer to cases of corruption among the Ministry of the Interior. Although they are trained to fight criminals and prosecute acts of corruption, the number of police officers who end up committing acts of corruption is quite high. In a response provided to Playtech.ro, the DGA sent a balance sheet of the files in which employees of the MAI are involved. The data covers only the first four months of this year.
Corruption among the police
Only in the first four months of this year, activities were carried out “on the basis of the delegation orders in 242 criminal files with the object of committing the crime of bribery by the MAI cadres Comparatively, in the same period of last year, activities were carried out in 258 criminal files, having the same object”, says a response from the General Anticorruption Directorate provided by Playtech.ro.
Regarding the number of MAI employees accused of abuse of office, in the first four months of the year, 113 such criminal files were found, with 9 more compared to the same period last year.
They poured their colleagues
In the first four months of this year, a number of 56 civil servants from the Ministry of Internal Affairs notified the fact that they were offered sums of money or other benefits in connection with their duties, “or they denounced the involvement of colleagues in committing of acts of corruption”, the representatives of the DGA also transmitted.
At the same time, in the same period, under the coordination of the case prosecutors from the competent prosecution units, there were 26 red-handed actions that targeted a number of 28 people, including 4 MAI staff.
- In 2022, 175 denunciations were registered at the level of the General Anti-corruption Directorate by MAI staff who reported acts of corruption by denunciation, of which 142 belong to Police employees
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The case of the Bucharest traffic policemen. They resigned and want to sue other colleagues as well
Two traffic policemen from Bucharest were caught red-handed last month when they were taking bribes from drivers in traffic. They are currently under house arrest, and the DNA sent, on Monday, in a press release that they have been sent to court.
According to anti-corruption prosecutors, they took bribes hundreds of times in a single month.
“During the period March 7, 2023 – April 27, 2023, the defendants Pantea Andrei and Olteanu Valentin, in the capacities mentioned above, allegedly received, in connection with the non-fulfillment of some acts that were part of their official duties, respectively for not ascertaining and sanctioning with fine or in order not to apply the complementary contraventional sanction of suspending the exercise of the right to drive, sums of money that would not have been due to them from several drivers who would have violated the traffic rules on public roads”, reports DNA.
The two were caught in the act by anti-corruption prosecutors after allegedly receiving the total sum of 2,550 lei and 20 euros from five drivers. The two were sued by a colleague to their superiors, and for several months they were chased by the police.
“I am extremely sorry for what I did. The career is over. I admitted it right from the start and I will continue to admit it,” said officer Andrei Pantea in front of the Court of Appeal His subordinate also said he regretted the actions.
A new case of corruption at the country’s customs. How the Nădlac network worked
The DNA announced, on Friday, May 19, that 23 border police officers and an inspector of the General Anti-Tax Fraud Directorate are being prosecuted, being accused of taking bribes. According to the prosecutors, they took bribes of up to 600 euros from companies transporting people from the Republic of Moldova to countries of the European Union, in order not to be checked.
“The 23 defendants, as police officers at the Nădlac I and II border crossing points, repeatedly claimed and received various sums of money, between 50 and 600 euros, from people who carried out passenger transport activities from the Republic of Moldova to countries of the European Union and vice versa, without ordering legal measures for non-compliance with the periods of stay in the European Union by non-EU citizens”, the anti-corruption prosecutors said.
The permit factory from Suceava. During the searches, money was found in buckets and basins
Two years ago, the anti-corruption prosecutors discovered almost 1 million euros hidden in buckets, basins and even in the walls, during searches at the Suceava Permits and Registration Service, RAR, but also at the employees’ homes.
“Following the completion of the searches carried out by the prosecutors within the DNA – Territorial Service Suceava in the three criminal files, sums of money and goods worth over 1,000,000 euros were seized, as follows: Following the completion of the searches carried out by the prosecutors from the DNA – Suceava Territorial Service in the three criminal files, sums of money and goods worth over 1,000,000 euros were seized”, the DNA prosecutors said at the time
Policemen are taught in school not to take bribes. What courses do future officers take?
Currently, at the level of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, approximately 130,000 personnel work, and according to the DGA, both newly hired personnel and those who are appointed to management positions must participate in “corruption prevention” activities.
- Only in the first months of 2023 were they trained 24.092 of MAI employees with management and execution functions, in relation to the main corruption crimes, as well as the consequences of involvement in such acts, being carried out 1.541 of activities on the line of corruption prevention.
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Also, the DGA conducts the training internship “Ethics and organizational integrity in the MAI”, intended for young officials of the MAI, who are in the first two years of their career. The representatives of the institution say that the number of those participating in such activities is increasing year by year.
Within the Police Academy, “Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, starting from the academic year 2016-2017 and up to the academic year 2021-2022, the study discipline “Integrity and prevention of corruption”, intended for students from the year I of the Faculties of Police, Border Police and Gendarmerie, and from the academic year 2017-2018 until the academic year 2021-2022, the discipline was also introduced at the Faculty of Legal and Administrative Sciences.
Within this discipline, the DGA supported the themes: “Forms of manifestation of corruption within the police”; “Integrity warning and attitude towards acts of corruption” and “Professional integrity testing”.
New ethics courses for police officers
Starting with the academic year 2023-2024, second year students, of the 2022 2026 series, the field of study “Law”, 2022 2025 and 2023 2026, the field of study “Order and Public Safety”, will take the course “Ethics and Integrity”, as well as the students of the first year, of the 2023 2027 series, the field of study “Law”, will follow the course “Ethics and integrity”.
Starting with the academic year 2023-2024, second year students, of the 2022 2026 series, the field of study “Law”, 2022 2025 and 2023 2026, the field of study “Order and Public Safety”, will take the course “Ethics and Integrity”, as well as the students of the first year, of the 2023 2027 series, the field of study “Law”, will follow the course “Ethics and integrity”.
The training sessions were included in the education plans of the Institute of Public Order Studies (during 2015-2016), of the Multifunctional Schengen Training Center Buzău (from 2017 to the present) and of the Initial and Continuous Training Center of the Ministry of Interior Orăștie (from 2018 to present).
Among the topics covered in the sessions, are: “Personal values vs. professional values”, “Individual Ethics”, Ethical Communication”, “Professional Integrity”, “Professional Ethics and Deontology”.
The last training course took place at the Initial and Continuous Training Center of the MAI in Orăştie, between 26-28.04.2023, the participants being MAI employees, at the beginning of their careers, who work within the police and gendarme structures of Hunedoara and Alba counties.
