Court Releases Romanian Interior Ministry Officers Charged With Aiding Thieves

05.03.2011 By Gavrila Oana

Ioan Tarnu and Liviu Schiau, Romanian Interior Ministry officers in Alba county, charged with aiding a criminal group specialized in stealing machinery from EU states, have been released as the Alba Iulia Court of Appeals rejected prosecutors’ move to have them arrested.

Court spokesman Cosmin Muntean said the court Monday night ruled against prosecutors' proposition to place the two under 29-day preventive arrest.

The court imposed a travel ban and the two officers may not leave the country over the next 30 days.

The ruling may be appealed at the High Court of Justice

The Department for the Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) - Hunedoara office is probing 24 members of a criminal group specialized in stealing machinery from EU states, responsible for EUR4.5 million in damages.

The inquiry has revealed that the group's actions were aided by lt. col. Ioan Tarnu, head of the Alba county Intelligence Department, and Liviu Schiau, police sub-commissioner with the Alba-Iulia anti-organized crime brigade.

The two officers were detained Monday for 24 hours.

According to the prosecutors, Tarnu received gifts from the wife of one of the accused, promising to ensure a favorable result to a criminal investigation of the suspect. Schiau is accused of informing the same suspect of the actions of the investigators, thereby hampering their progress.