President of Rompetrol Oil Company Arrested in Romania

Dinu Patriciu, prominent businessman - president of the Rompetrol oil group - and member of the [ruling] National Liberal Party, was arrested on a 24-hour mandate yesterday at 2 a.m. for a long list of financial crimes: misappropriation of funds, money laundering, embezzlement and tax evasion.

Prosecutors asked the judge yesterday to issue a 29-day arrest warrant for Patriciu. When Patriciu entered the Prosecutor’s Office Thursday morning for a new hearing nothing was out of the ordinary; he even told the media that he would ask prosecutors to call [former president] Ion Iliescu and his former adviser, Ioan Talpes, for hearings. A 2004 memo signed by Talpes and forwarded to Iliescu listed all the accusations which now make the official indictment.

Other managers of Rompetrol Oil Company are indicted too, like Romanians Sorin Marin and Alexandru Bucsa, Dutch citizen Phil Stevenson and U.S. citizen John Wars, said sources in the Prosecutor’s Office. Patriciu’s lawyers contested the arrest, stating that the proper procedural rules were not followed.

First indictment was filed in March, regarding the privatization of the Petromidia oil refinery, part of the Rompetrol group, which resulted in tax evasion and money laundering damaging state coffers with 1,500 billion lei [some 40 million euros]. Then Patriciu commented that the accusations were not founded, but that he will continue to answer all prosecutors’ questions.

Rompetrol Group considers calling the Romanian state to court for the arrest of its president, on the basis of the treaties which protect foreign investments, said yesterday Phil Stephenson, deputy general manager of Rompetrol. Stephenson said the team of lawyers studies the relevant treaties and agreements protecting foreign investments, in order to file a law suit with international arbitrage courts. He was to testify in front of the court yesterday evening to support the release of Patriciu.