Romanian prosecutors bust network selling citizenship for cash

Romanian citizenship fraud corruption forged documents foreign applicants prosecutors

Romanian prosecutors from the High Court’s Office of the Prosecutor’s Office arrested two women, Valerica Șapera and Maria Dimitriu, on suspicion of facilitating fraudulent Romanian citizenship applications. During a flagrant operation the women were found with €7,500 in cash, which they claimed as payment for influencing members of the National Authority for Citizenship (ANC) to accelerate or guarantee the approval of foreign applicants.

The scheme relied on forged civil‑status documents – birth, marriage and death certificates – that falsely asserted Romanian ancestry for the clients. A Ukrainian collaborator supplied falsified records stating that the applicants’ grandparents were born in the Odesa region before 1940, even though that territory was never part of Greater Romania. In exchange for the forged paperwork the women demanded fees ranging from €5,000 to €7,500.

Searches of the suspects’ residences uncovered additional cash and evidence linking the network to other foreign nationals seeking Romanian citizenship. The investigation is being conducted by the Parchetul de pe lângă Înalta Curte de Casație și Justiție and will lead to further legal proceedings.

Entities: Arad City Hall · Directoratul Național de Securitate Cibernetică · Maria Dimitriu · Marius Manea · National Authority for Citizenship (ANC) · National Cybersecurity Directorate (DNSC) · Parchetul de pe lângă Înalta Curte de Casație și Justiție · Romania · SC Recons SA · Simona Chivari · TPARK · Ukrainian collaborator

Claims

What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.

[● 2 SOURCES] A Ukrainian collaborator falsified documents indicating ancestors born in Odesa before 1940, though that region was never part of Greater Romania. (Articles 6aeab8d2-c277-44e2-b1a6-fad288b19397, 6c6ade29-9b36-4297-8c81-19717fb4cb2a)
[● 2 SOURCES] The women demanded payments of €5,000 to €7,500 from foreign clients for the falsified citizenship applications. (Articles 6aeab8d2-c277-44e2-b1a6-fad288b19397, 6c6ade29-9b36-4297-8c81-19717fb4cb2a)
[● 3 SOURCES] The investigation is being conducted by the Parchetul de pe lângă Înalta Curte de Casație și Justiție. (Articles 6aeab8d2-c277-44e2-b1a6-fad288b19397, 6c6ade29-9b36-4297-8c81-19717fb4cb2a, 285bfdde-7d00-4d58-a9c7-f73c6e3073d)
[● 2 SOURCES] The women were caught with a total of €7,500 in cash during a flagrant arrest. (Articles 6aeab8d2-c277-44e2-b1a6-fad288b19397, 285bfdde-7d00-4d58-a9c7-f73c6e3073d6)
[● 3 SOURCES] Prosecutors arrested Valerica Șapera and Maria Dimitriu on suspicion of facilitating fraudulent Romanian citizenship applications. (Articles 6aeab8d2-c277-44e2-b1a6-fad288b19397, 6c6ade29-9b36-4297-8c81-19717fb4cb2a, 285bfdde-7d00-4d58-a9c7-f73c6e3073d)
[● 2 SOURCES] Searches of the women's residences uncovered additional cash and evidence of the scheme. (Articles 6aeab8d2-c277-44e2-b1a6-fad288b19397, 285bfdde-7d00-4d58-a9c7-f73c6e3073d)
[● 2 SOURCES] The scheme involved forging birth, marriage and death certificates to claim Romanian ancestry for foreign applicants. (Articles 6aeab8d2-c277-44e2-b1a6-fad288b19397, 6c6ade29-9b36-4297-8c81-19717fb4cb2a)
[● 3 SOURCES] They promised to influence members of the National Authority for Citizenship to expedite applications for a fee. (Articles 6aeab8d2-c277-44e2-b1a6-fad288b19397, 6c6ade29-9b36-4297-8c81-19717fb4cb2a, 285bfdde-7d00-4d58-a9c7-f73c6e3073d)