Basescu Did Not Break the Law When Buying an Apartment under Market Price, Prosecutors Say

The Prosecutor’s General Office closed the file regarding President Traian Basescu, accused to have illegally purchased an apartment on Stefan Mihaileanu Street, in Bucharest, while he was still the Bucharest mayor. The apartment was nationalized by the communist state in the ‘50s and claimed back by its original owners.

The Prosecutor’s General Office closed the file regarding President Traian Basescu, accused to have illegally purchased an apartment on Stefan Mihaileanu Street, in Bucharest, while he was still the Bucharest mayor. The apartment was nationalized by the communist state in the ‘50s and claimed back by its original owners.

Only one day before Elena Udrea, Basescu’s lawyer sand former presidential adviser resigning her position amid a media scandalt, had filed with the Prosecutor’s Office documentation supporting Basescu’s stance and rebuttal of the charges.

Once more the good relationship Ilie Botos, the chief prosecutor general, has with Basescu proved useful for the latter. Botos said yesterday that prosecutors investigating the matter concluded Basescu did not breach the law, when he bought the apartment according to provisions of Law 10/2001.

A group of senators from the opposition Social Democrat Party had filed a complaint against Basescu, arguing that the president was in breach of the law since he already owned a house.

Basescu bought the 369 sqm apartment in down-town Bucharest for the equivalent of 19.301 USD, while its current market value is around 300.000 euros. Basescu the mayor approved the sale of the apartment to Basescu the citizen claiming that in 1999 he was evacuated from a nationalized house administered by the Executive Administrative Division in Charge with Protocol, which he was occupying as minister in the then center-right Government, and had no home.

Truth is the Protocol Division moved Basescu from Aviatorilor Boulevard into another home on Prezan Street, it also administered.

Also important is that according to the buy-and-sale contract of 4 February 2003, the apartment on Mihaileanu Street was sold according to provisions of Law 112/1995. Prosecutors said the mentioning of Law 112 was a clerical mistake made by the company administering the real-estate which the City Hall owned. The company was led by Luminita Mihutu, another of Basescu’s trusted people, which he appointed in top positions while holding the position of Bucharest mayor.

Claiming now that the sale was conducted according to provisions of Law 10/2001 is crucial, according to Basescu’s lawyers, since Law 122/1995 specifically prevented the sale from occurring, with the provisions of Art. 9, which states that tenants may buy the houses they live in provided they did not own a house or sold one after 1 January 1990.

But Basescu already had a house: a villa in Baneasa, the northern outskirts of Bucharest.

He bought it on 21 October 2002, and donated it to his daughter Ioana, on 12 November 2002. During this time he also had a tenant’s contract for the apartment in Mihaileanu Street.

Jurnalul National asked for advice from famous legal experts. They did not want to have their names published, given the fact that Basescu is the one implicated in this case. However, they pointed out that provisions of Law 10 are based on those of Law 112; hence the legal basis for conducting the sale was flawed in any way, either when grounding it on Law 10 or when grounding it on Law 112.

Prosecutors, though, chose to ignore both this legal reality and the clear provisions in the buy-and-sale contract, which found it on Law 112.

When the scandal broke at the beginning of the year Basescu stated that he will give up that apartment, since he will have the right anyway to a home paid from public funds, as a former president.

Later on he changed his mind; he now fights claws and teeth to keep that piece of property, in spite of the legal and public image implications.