Romania's anti‑corruption probes: mayor charged with bribe, supreme court scraps lottery case intercepts

Former mayor Claudiu Daniel Chelariu of Mihălășeni, Botoșani County, has been placed under judicial control and sent to trial for repeatedly demanding and receiving 500,000 lei in bribes from a construction firm linked to a local road‑works contract worth over 11 million lei. The National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) secured a provisional seizure of six properties owned by Chelariu and forwarded the case to the Botoșani Tribunal.

In a separate anti‑corruption matter, Romania's Supreme Court (Înalta Curte de Casație și Justiție) annulled a series of phone and electronic communications interceptions used in the “Loteria” case against media entrepreneur Maricel Păcuraru. The court ruled that the national‑security mandates authorising the intercepts were illegal, effectively voiding the evidence after a decade‑long legal battle over alleged fraud amounting to €5 million.

Both decisions reflect ongoing judicial scrutiny of corruption allegations in Romania and could influence future investigative procedures.