Romania’s former prime minister Adrian Nastase summoned to court in “Aunt Tamara” file

Anti-corruption prosecutors ordered today a court summons for the former prime minister Adrian Nastase and the former president of the National Office for the Prevention and Control of Money Laundry, Ioan Melinescu, concerning allegations of bribery and destroying official documents, among others.

In the court file Nastase is charged with bribery while Ioan Melinescu is charged with illegally removing and destroying documents, receiving bribes and disclosing classified information. Prosecutors also ruled to start another case against Ristea Priboi, former deputy from 2000 to 2004, over alleged complicity to bribery.

According to the anti-corruption prosecutors, in November 2000 Melinescu contacted Nastase, who was then a deputy in Parliament, through Priboi in order to inform him about a document meant to be sent to the High Court regarding an account of 400,000 U.S. dollars opened at Creditanstalt Austria – currently HVB Bank – in the name of Nastase’s wife, Dana.

Melinescu promised to get rid of the document before the 2000 elections. After Nastase was appointed prime minister he dismissed the president of the National Office for the Prevention and Control of Money Laundry replacing him with Melinescu. Once in office, Melinescu illegally removed the document and gave it to Priboi, who was Nastase’s councilor.

Investigations into the origins of the 400,000 U.S. dollars showed the sum was above the family’s average earnings. According to a contract signed by the person who transferred the money into the account, the amount came from Dana’s aunt, Tamara Cernasov, 91, who allegedly sold her jewelry, art and other valuables. However there was no evidence that Tamara actually owned the goods.

The National Office for the Prevention and Control of Money Laundry discovered in January 2006 that the document regarding the account of Nastase’s spouse had disappeared and sent the file to the High Court of Cessation and Justice.

The “Aunt Tamara” scandal broke when the former prime minister updated a legally required wealth-disclosure statement. The media were soon reporting that, according to the statement, the fortunes of Nastase’s wife had grown by some 1 million euros when she inherited real estate, jewelry, art, and cash from her aunt, Tamara.

Tamara Cernasov left behind three apartments in Bucharest; a 2,500-square-meter real-estate plot valued at a quarter of a million euros; 40,000 euros in jewelry and precious metals; 85,000 euros in paintings, sculptures, and icons; and almost 242,000 euros in cash.

It wasn’t long before journalists discovered that aunt Tamara had lived a rather modest life in a small, one-room apartment.