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| WEALTH OF ROMANIAN OFFICIALS, UNDER SCRUTINY 22/07/2008 |
| (2008-07-22) |
| Last updated: 2008-07-23 17:59 EET |
One month since its inception, the National Integrity Agency is already looking into the wealth of 102 Romanian officials who seem unable to account for their assets. The report on the Romanian justice system, to be released by the European Commission on Wednesday, finds that the fight against corruption, high-level corruption in particular, has made little headway. But on Monday Bucharest sent a signal that things are beginning to change. The National Integrity Agency, long requested by the European Union, was established not long ago, under a law enacted in June 2007.
And although it only has 42 inspectors, with the number expected to exceed 100 by year end, the new institution has initiated checks into the wealth of ministers, members of parliament or local administration officials and civil servants. It is also expected to look into conflicts of interest. In his first press conference so far, the Agency president, Catalin Macovei, announced that the institution was checking the assets of 102 people. No names have been disclosed, as the law requires confidentiality, but Macovei did tell us:
“There are 17 members of parliament, one prefect, 3 magistrates, 6 university rectors, 14 mayors and deputy mayors, 15 councilors, one county council chairman, 3 doctors, 8 directors, 3 school inspectors, 15 police officers and 20 other civil servants.”
One of the investigations targets a senator who reportedly has a fortune abroad. Under the Romanian law, about 300 thousand people had to submit wealth statements by June 15th, but so far only 90 thousand have done so. Catalin Macovei tells us what happens with those who have not:
“There are two penalties for failure to submit statements: a fine ranging between 100 and 500 lei, and the commencement of wealth check procedures. As soon as we receive the standard forms next week, we will start issuing these fines, concurrently with the initiation of checks. There will be tens of thousands of such fines.”
Many indeed, but the amount is ridiculous: 140 euros at most. The checks may be more of a concern to the officials in question. At any rate, the Agency’s activity so far is commendable, particularly since the institution lacks adequate computer systems and most of the inspections are based on information in the mass media. If it finds that the wealth has been illegally acquired, the National Integrity Agency will release a report on the case and ask the Court to decide on the amount to be confiscated.
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