“When we stop asking questions we will disappear as humans. We will be cyborgs!” – Mihai Pâlșu, 10 december 2014
An AFP news has gone around the world: the prosecutors of Munich Prosecution Office raided the branches of „Airbus Defence and Space” Group – the name under which EADS was reorganized. Why? The German magistrates were informed that corruption acts were committed in Romania and Saudi Arabia. What amounts were defrauded? About 3 billion Euros, in businesses with equipments and services that ensure border security. Where did the prosecutors raided? At the German branch offices of „Airbus Defence and Space”.
A scheme for eternity
The searches took place in the German cities Ottobrunn, Unterschleissheim, Ingolstadt, Ulm and Friedrichshafen. We remind you that „Airbus Defence and Space” was created at the beginning of 2014, through the merger of three former divisions of EADS and the Prosecution examines suspicious money transfers, of over several million Euros. The national newspaper PUTEREA published, exclusively, the EADS Fraud Scheme. We will show what amount was paid as bribery to the ministers, what illegalities were committed by Oprea, what persons negotiated in France with Arnaud Lagardere, how Ion Ţiriac consolidated his friendship with Dieter Zetche – current head of Daimler – and with Stefan Zoller, ex-CEO EADS etc. You can find the EADS Fraud Scheme at the end of the text, in PDF format.
The fraud arrows
In order to understand the fraud scheme, you have to follow the arrows in this order: start with the red ones, continue with the black ones and complete the study with the violet ones! You will easy notice what characters of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MAI) and from the top of EADS set the basis of a contract that generated a fraud that was primarily estimated at 60 million Euros and investigated by the prosecutors from Germany and Romania. An important person in the scheme, Stefan Zoller, ex-CEO of EADS Germany, has already been prosecuted by the German investigators – for scams in Saudi Arabia.
Basically, the red arrows show the contractual relationship between companies. They also indicate what ministers were at the head of MAI, what were the decisions they took and which was the motive of some illegal actions in the EADS contract.
The black arrows show the human relations, of friendship, corruption and bribery. More, the black arrows highlight a cruel reality: the state cannot be defrauded with very large amounts, of millions of Euros, unless the crooks are part of a “crowd” of organized crime type, in which most of its important members are … ministers!
The violet arrows show the way of the defrauded money. MAI paid to EADS hundreds of millions of EUR, in several stages. It is estimated that 60 million Euros were embezzled through different companies in the pockets of ministers and crooks who call themselves “businessmen”. We are talking here about the Ion Ţiriac Branch and the Claudiu Florică Network.
The following information is 100% true
This section offers information obtained from many sources, from official documents and from releases of DNA and of German prosecutors. I invite you to follow the red arrows.
The Order to Zaharia
10 years ago, the government Adrian Năstase took the decision to secure the borders and to offer this contract, without bidding, to the German-French society, EADS. Ioan Rus, the MAI minister at that time, gave an order to the troop of generals led by Toma Zaharia to negotiate a contract with the heads of EADS in certain terms that finally led to defrauding the public money.
In order to give a note of legality, MAI asked the “production” of a feasibility study. The study was prepared by the company BEARING POINT, in a few days, by compiling other studies available at MAI. The day after it submitted the feasibility study, BEARING POINT received 400.000 EUR for its service!
The next step was the contract signing in August 2004. On behalf of the Romanian company, it was signed by the General Toma Zaharia, in the basis of a ministerial order given by Marian Săniuţă and on behalf of the EADS part, by Rainer Hertrich. The event was attended by the German chancellor Gerhard Schroder and the prime-minister Adrian Năstase. The contract value amounted 650 million Euros.
The Chapter Blaga, the Minister Blaga
In 2005, the MAI minister became the PDL member Vasile Blaga, who had very good relations with Ion Ţiriac by the time the “Bulldog” was the head of the Romanian Customs and the “Moustache” imported German cars. During his mandate, Blaga made a penal complaint where he incriminated certain conditions stated in the contract and he accused the signers of the contract of illegalities. His complaint received NUP (non prosecution). However, Blaga diminished the value of the contract, bringing it to 524 millions of EUR. A question arises: What was Blaga’s motive to make a penal complaint and to reduce the value of the contract, as he suddenly became the defender of the public money? The answer is in the stunning information section!
The evil binomial Dan Nica – Şerban Nicolae
From 2005 to 2009, Cristian David, Gabriel Oprea, Liviu Dragnea and Dan Nica succeeded at the head of MAI. The minister Dan Nica was the one who rectified the contract, raising the amount to 750 million EUR in 2009. Next to Nica, Şerban Nicolae, who was secretary of state in the Ministry of Administration and Interior, stood upright to corruption. In fact, Şerban Nicolae sealed the supplementation of the contract, not with 300 million EUR, as he was accused “openly”, with subject and predicate, by Elena Udrea in 2009, but “only” with 200 million EUR. About the motive of Şerban Nicolae, please read in the stunning information section! We also tell you that since 2004 until now MAI paid about 405 million EUR for the EADS contract.
Enlightening Information
This section offers information obtained from several sources and from official documents. We will see how the relations consolidated after good years of onerous business lead to public money spoliation. We will see how the Ion Ţiriac Branch established a business of hundreds of millions of EUR. Out of this bad business for Romania, the gang of “Moustache” obtained an illegal profit of over 15 million EUR. Let’s follow the black arrows!
The binomial Ţiriac-Zetche
Ion Ţiriac is the binder that linked Romanian ministers with German and French businessmen. At that date, Ţiriac made business with the minister Ioan Rus: automobile trade. Ţiriac is also bound to Dieter Zetche, the current CEO of Daimler Chrysler, by a friendship consolidated in Romania since the ‘90s, thanks to the automobiles produced by the Germans. More exactly, “Moustache” obtained very favorable conditions, through Zetche – Head of Sales at Daimler at that time -, to sell Mercedes automobiles in Romania, i.e. to open a new market.
In the summer of the first years of democracy, dozens of trailers loaded with 6-8 Mercedes cars parked for short periods of time on Kalinin Street, now Mircea Eliade Street, next to the house rented by Ion Ţiriac from the state, for almost nothing. Those hundreds of cars were never sold in Romania. They were sent by Ţiriac to the Arabian countries, on emerging markets. The reason? The difference between the preferential purchasing price and the normal selling price on an emerging market exceeded half the value of a car. Where did these “good money” reach? To Ţiriac and Zetche. Then, Ion Ţiriac hit with another motor-car deal: although it didn’t meet the vital conditions, his company purchased from Daimler, thanks to the same Zetche, buses that were sold afterwards to … RATB. The story with “look, there is, there isn’t conditioning air in the buses” is known by everybody! The money was paid according to the contract, for buses equipped with conditioning air! There were also other businesses out of which the binomial Ţiriac-Zetche received large amount of money, to the detriment of Daimler Company and the German and Romanian states.
Through Zetche, Ţiriac co-opted in his branch the German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder and Stefan Zoller, CEO EADS Germany until 2012.
Ion Ţiriac also had very good relations with the founder of the French concern LAGARDERE SCA, Jean-Luc Lagardere. Starting with 2003, “Moustache” “served” a long and prosperous economic relationship with Arnaud Lagardere, the son of Jean-Luc and the heir to the throne of LAGARDERE SCA. Few years before, Arnaud Lagardere was at a step distance to going into bankruptcy.
The group LAGARDERE SCA and the Century XXI Foundation, where Victor Ponta was president, were the co-owners of the station Radio XXI. Ion Ţiriac was clever enough to impose to Lagardere the young promising politician Victor Ponta.
Minister Udrea and Urdăreanu, in France
At a certain date, in a certain year, in the story EADS, Arnaud Lagardere was asked to have a secret meeting in France, with Elena Udrea and Tiberiu Urdăreanu, the owner of UTI. Why? DNA will tell us when it will be necessary! Or Vasile Blaga, when he will have his fingers put in the door frame!
Stunning information
This section will give big headaches to the main actors of the EADS scam. The information is obtained from one or more sources. We are talking here about actions that confirm the fact that the ones elected by the people are broken from the surrounding reality, they considered themselves untouchable, impossible to be caught red-handed. Let’s follow the same black arrows!
The Motive of Blaga
In 2005, Vasile Blaga proposed to the leaders of EADS to purchase equipment of 60 million EUR from STS. Where did this equipment come from? STS, through Marcel Opriş – supported by Traian Băsescu -, has bought equipment of 60 million EUR that proved to be impossible to use. At the proposal of president Traian Băsescu, in order to get rid of this millstone, Vasile Blaga tried to sell that equipment to EADS. Although his sidekick Ion Ţiriac made an intensive lobby around Zetche and Lagardere, the business failed, as the STS equipment wasn’t compatible with the system used by EADS. Maybe now you understand better the great friendship between Băsescu and Opriş and the huge nervousness shown by Blaga against the President in the last year. Finally, a piece of information worthy of the Criminal Code: In the media it is stated that Vasile Blaga would have taken a bribe of 9 million EUR and not 16 million, as other media products stated. In order to receive shelter, Vasile Blaga told at DNA everything he knew about the EADS business and the Ion Ţiriac Branch.
Minister Oprea is blinded by hatred
Because Ioan Rus strongly opposed that Gabriel Oprea became the head of SRI, between the two of them was born a fierce hostility. The minister Oprea ordered that certain documents held by MAI in the COMICEX-EADS business, being considered in single copy, to be destroyed and replaced by others, which “sink” Ioan Rus to the “cellar” and exonerate him. Unfortunately for the general Oprea, the original documents were copied and stored in a certain file cabinet – DGIPI knows! Does Virgil “Fox” Ardelean know which the locker is?
Nicu NIRO vs. George Maior
The same MAI Minister, Gabriel Oprea, is a business friend with Nicu NIRO, alias Dumitru Nicolae. When he was called to DNA, Nicu NIRO ran to Oprea. Gabriel assured him that nothing would happen to him, that it would only be a summons for the public eye and he could go there peacefully, as he wouldn’t be retained. But the droll DNA prosecutors put Dumitru Nicolae in a prolonged interrogation and the judges approved the arrest!!!
Well, the value of our information is colossal: Nicu NIRO was promised clemency not if he denounced Gabriel Oprea, but George Maior, the SRI Director! For now, we don’t know in what file, but we will soon find out, even from the DNA releases!
The way of the money
Easily, easily, we reached the section which includes the information that hurts the most: who benefited of the 60 millions of Euros defrauded? The information is obtained from official and unofficial sources. This time we have to follow the violet arrows!
The Binomial Harnagea-Marian
Through the signature of totally incompetent and corrupt ministers, MAI paid by this time about 405 million EUR, according to the contract COMICEX-EADS.
As we can see, openly, the tandem Cătălin Harnagea-Dorin Marian grabbed a chunk of public money. Obviously, by means of the famous consulting contract. Not for something else, but Harnagea – former head of SIE – and Marian – former presidential councilor on national security issues – needed money to also taste the champagne “Billionaires Nectar”, as Ponta and Ghiţă did, in a club from Dubai! We can even say that the binomial Harnagea-Marian got before the prime-minister in this sweet and foamy problem.
Florică Network
By the same method, a consultancy contract, the Network Florică received millions of EUR from EADS, in different stages. Obviously, the bribe was directed through the company qualified in fraud, the famous Fujitsu Siemens, conducted by the incomparable Claudiu Florică. The “treasurer” of Florică’s Network was the tennis player Dinu Pescariu and its “lawyer” was the denunciator Doru Boştină. The crook network managed by Florică is full of famous names: Dorin Cocoş, Remus Truică, Dragoş Stan, Thomas Heinchel, brothers Costel and Cristinel Tănase, spouses Cornel and Tatiana Giurgea, as well as one of the “smart guys” of the fraud of over 60 million EUR – the head of EADS Romania, Cătălin Ghigea. It isn’t clear if Ghigea “poured out” precious information to DNA.
In the first phase, Dan Nica, Claudiu Florică, Dinu Pescariu and Doru Boştină made “heavy” denunciations. Now, Dumitru Iliescu and… Vasile Blaga have started to “confess”! By the way: why was Vasile Blaga heard at DIICOT the other days, for so many hours?
Ion Ţiriac Branch
Through the Branch of Ion Ţiriac, the MAI ministers headed by Dan Nica, the wise guys Şerban Nicolae and Dumitru Iliescu, the Daimler CEO, Dieter Zetche, the ex-CEO of EADS Germany, Stefan Zoller, Vasile Blaga, Cristian David and Marian Săniuţă received undue benefits. Maybe now you understand why the Senator Şerban Nicolae, the man of Ion Iliescu and of the convict Cătălin Voicu, is desperate to be voted with emergency the law that sends journalists to jail if they reveal such information obtained through pure journalistic ways, not by burglary or by violation of the Criminal Code, as the “honorable” officials elected by the people have done daily for over 25 years.
Relevant comments
- In very short time, DNA will confirm the EADS Fraud Scheme published by the national newspaper PUTEREA, but also the stunning information presented exclusively. As the prosecutors confirmed other investigations of our newspaper.
- The ministers who are no strangers to the bribery and corruption that stood at the basis of the business COMICEX-EADS and turned the blind eye, were: Ioan Rus, Marian Săniuţă, Vasile Blaga, Cristian David, Gabriel Oprea, Dan Nica, Traian Igaş and the prime-ministers Adrian Năstase, C.P. Tăriceanu, Emil Boc, MRU and Victor Ponta.
- Why wasn’t the group of MAI generals, beginning with Toma Zaharia, heard at DNA until now? The generals Toma Zaharia, Gheorghe Carp, Anton Gagiu, Mihai Bădescu and Mihai Tătuţ represent the “terminal 0” of the EADS fraud. The primary documents started from them. The generals of Police know the best who gave the order and how the COMICEX-EADS contract was fabricated, which led to defrauding public money.
- All the companies involved in the COMICEX-EADS business, all the subcontractors received favorable notice from DGIPI and SRI. In 2004, DGIPI was led by Virgil Ardelean – called ”The Fox” – and SRI was under the directorship of Radu Timofte, the reliable friend of the one who expresses freely on the website, on Facebook and on YouTube, extremely annoying the internauts: Sorin Ovidiu Vîntu.
Material published by Mihai Pâlşu in the national newspaper Puterea on the 10th of December 2014 – Translation by M. T.
