Former Romanian Intelligence chief Florian Coldea placed under judicial control with 500,000 Lei bail after 15 hours of questioning.

Former Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) Chief Florian Coldea has been placed under judicial control with a bail set at 500,000 lei after being questioned by DNA prosecutors for 15 hours. He, along with reserve General Dumitru Dumbravă and lawyer Doru Trăilă, faces charges of influence peddling and money laundering.

The questioning of Coldea began at noon and continued late into the night, concluding just after 3 AM. Upon leaving the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) headquarters, Coldea refused to give any statements to the press.

According to G4Media sources, businessman Cătălin Hideg allegedly paid Coldea and Dumbravă 100,000 euros, with 20,000 euros going to Trăilă and the remaining 80,000 euros split between Coldea and Dumbravă. Hideg had previously claimed in an interview on Realitatea PLUS that Coldea and Dumbravă demanded 600,000 euros plus VAT to „optimize” his corruption case in court.

The case is being handled by prosecutor Mihaela Iorga Moraru, head of the DNA’s First Section for Combating Corruption. Reports indicate that the suspects contradicted each other in their statements to the prosecutor.

Coldea, Dumbravă, and Trăilă are accused of leveraging their influence in connection with Hideg’s case, in which he was initially convicted for procurement fraud during the pandemic by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. Trăilă’s law firm, with consultancy from Coldea and Dumbravă, had signed a contract worth 600,000 euros with Hideg for court representation. Despite their promises, Hideg was sentenced to prison in the initial trial and subsequently reported the matter to the DNA.

Businessman Dan Tocaci, an associate of the three and a provisional member of the Romprest sanitation company’s Board of Directors, was also present at the DNA headquarters during the proceedings.