BUCHAREST, July 29 A criminal investigation by Romanian anti-corruption prosecutors against deputy central bank governor Bogdan Olteanu will not impede bank policymaking in Romania, the central bank said.
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DNA will ask the High Court of Cassation and Justice for a 30-day preventive detention of Olteanu.
Olteanu was appointed deputy governor of the National Bank of Romania in 2009. The agency has reasons to suspect that as lower house speaker (2006-2008) Bogdeanu demanded a €1 mn electoral campaign contribution from a businessman, Reuters reports.
Several other high-ranking politicians are also being investigated as part of the case including former prime minister and current senate speaker Calin Popescu Tariceanu, local media reported.
Investigators say Olteanu peddled his influence to appoint journalist and environmental activist Liviu Mihaihu as head of the authority managing the Delta Danube reservoir, a huge biosphere under UNESCO protection.
Olteanu’s lawyer said the deputy governor denied any wrongdoing, but would resign on Monday – the first time such a senior officer in the central bank has been arrested and left his job over such allegations.
A replacement for Olteanu on the bank’s board can only be debated by parliament after it reconvenes from summer recess next month.
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Romania is considered one of the EU’s most corrupt member states. He resigned in November after a deadly night club fire that triggered massive street protests against widespread corruption.
