The general director of state railway carrier of Romania CFR SA, Alexandru Ion Simu, prosecuted by the anticorruption directorate DNA. Promoted during current transport minister Sorin Grindeanu’s term in office, he is accused of firing, along with another director, an integrity whistleblower who had revealed unlawful activities in the press.

Prosecutors from the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) have begun criminal proceedings against Alexandru Ion Simu, director of the state-owned rail company CFR SA, and Petru Cesa, a director in the company, accused of instigating abuse of office and instigating usurpation of office, according to a press release from the institution.

The DNA accuses the two of rigging Simu’s appointment to the company’s board and firing an employee they suspected of leaking details of the unlawful act to journalists.

In December 2021, at the beginning of Sorin Grindeanu’s term as minister, Ion Simu, former head of CFR Infrastructure Regional Timisoara, was appointed to head CFR SA, according to Economedia.

According to the publication Pressone, Simu, a PSD Caraș Severin member, allegedly helped transport party members to the big PSD rally in summer 2018. At the time, Simu allegedly decided to supplement the trains to Bucharest to bring participants to the rally in the capital.

The full press release of DNA:

Prosecutors from the National Anticorruption Directorate – Timișoara Territorial Service have ordered criminal proceedings against the suspects:

Photo source: Ilona Andrei / G4Media
SIMU-ALEXANDRU ION, acting director general of the National Railway Company (CNCF) CFR SA, who has been charged with the offences of:
– instigation to abuse of office, if the public official has obtained for himself or for another an undue advantage,
– instigation to misuse of office, if the public official obtained for himself or for another person an undue advantage,

CEȘA PETRU, Deputy General Technical Director of the National Railways Company (CNCF) CFR SA, who was charged with the offences of:
– abuse of office, if the public official obtained for himself or for another person an undue advantage, in a continuous form,
– usurpation of office, if the civil servant obtained for himself or for another person an undue advantage.

The prosecutors’ order states that there are aspects of the case from which reasonable suspicion arises, which gives rise to the following facts:
During April 2022, the suspect Ceșa Petru, in the capacity mentioned above, at the instigation of the other suspect, would have assumed the duties of general manager of CNCF CFR SA, although he did not hold this position or a power of attorney in this regard and issued two decisions, with the second appointing Simu-Alexandru Ion to head the Regional Railway Branch Timișoara. Through these two decisions on Simu-Alexandru Ion’s career path, the suspect Ceșa Petru allegedly sought to ensure the former’s stability in a management position at regional level, after the termination of his position as interim general manager of CNCF CFR SA.
After one of those decisions appeared in the public arena, the suspect Ceșa Petru, at the instigation of the other, following a formal disciplinary investigation, issued two decisions whereby a subordinate, suspected of having passed on the document in question to the press, had her individual employment contract terminated for disciplinary reasons, in violation of the provisions of the Labour Code, on the grounds that „the employee failed to prove her innocence”.
By acting in this way, the two directors allegedly sought to set an example to the other employees in their subordination so that in the future the suspects would no longer be exposed to the „risk” that the public, through the media, would become aware of various illegal/illegal aspects of the management of CNCF CFR SA.

The suspects Ceșa Petru and Simu-Alexandru Ion were informed of their procedural status in accordance with the provisions of Article 307 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

We point out that criminal prosecution is a stage of the criminal process regulated by the Code of Criminal Procedure, an activity which cannot, under any circumstances, undermine the principle of presumption of innocence.

Please note that this communication has been drawn up in accordance with Article 28(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code. 4 of the Guide of good practices on the relationship between the judiciary and the media, approved by the Decision of the Plenum of the Superior Council of Magistracy no. 197/2019.