Interior Ministry Officers Charged With Aiding Machinery Thieves

05.02.2011 By Bostan Radu

Ioan Tarnu and Liviu Schiau, Romanian Interior Ministry officers in Alba county, have been detained by prosecutors for aiding a criminal group specialized in stealing machinery from EU states, responsible for EUR4.5 million in damages.

The Department for the Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) - Hunedoara office is probing 24 members of the criminal group. 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.

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.

Tarnu and Schiau have been detained for 24 hours. The prosecutors will request they be placed in preventive custody.