Lucian Pahonțu accused of plagiarizing doctoral thesis

Lucian Pahonțu, the head of Romania's Protection and Guard Service (SPP), is facing allegations of massive plagiarism regarding his 2003 doctoral thesis. An investigation by the publication Recorder claims that at least 30% of the 175-page work, titled ‘Tactics used for the guarding and defense of objectives of special importance’, was taken from other sources without proper citation or use of quotation marks.

The investigation identified several sources, including books, articles, and military documents. One specific source cited is the 1976 Regulation of Security Troops, which reportedly contains identical fragments within Pahonțu’s thesis without mention in the footnotes. The report describes the work as a compilation of military definitions and regulations rather than an original academic contribution.

In addition to the plagiarism claims, the investigation highlighted numerous significant grammatical errors throughout the thesis, which the report notes are unacceptable for a scientific academic work.