ReportGeorgescu Freed After 24 Hours in €1.1M Fraud ProbeAired September 23, 2026 at 8:46 AM UTCWritten September 23, 2026 at 8:48 AM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:11A businessman handed over more than 1 million Euros for loans that never arrived.0:16The man accused of leading the scheme won Romania's presidential first round as an0:20independent declaring zero spending and now carries three criminal files while money0:24is traced across four countries.0:26Will an appeal put him back behind bars and can the missing millions be found?0:30More than 1.1 million Euros is gone.0:32That total is built from two payments, more than 1 million Euros and then 100,0000:37Euros sent as guarantees for foreign bank loans that never materialized and were0:41never returned.0:42The operation began in September 2021 with three people, two Romanians and an0:47Italian, offering access to large foreign financing.0:50Businessman Razvan Loo of Buzao filed a complaint in January 2024, first lodged at0:55the National Anti-Corruption Directorate.0:57Meetings took place in Bucharest, Argus County, and later in the United Kingdom.1:01He was stopped near Odipenny while heading to a swimming pool, taken to his home in1:05Mogosohaya for a search, then brought to organized crime headquarters in Bucharest1:09for questioning.1:10Five home search warrants were executed in Bucharest, Mogosoia, Chielpani, and Bovte1:15by the Central Structure with officers of the Criminal Investigation Directorate of1:18the General Inspectorate of Police.1:20Supporters gathered outside headquarters while questioning proceeded.1:23He was led out in handcuffs, raising his hands to display the cuffs, spent the night1:28in Bucharest's central police detention facility and exercised the right to remain1:32silent.1:33Two Romanian citizens aged 64 and 47 were placed in detention in the same file.1:38About 100,000 euros of the sums obtained was intended to support the electoral1:42campaign of the group's leader, with a spending plan presented.1:45Money flows under investigation include passage through a bank controlled by1:49Russians into accounts of the wife of businessman Ionel Russin and to the Italian1:53suspect, Swiss accounts, and a large transfer through Latvia.1:56Investigators sought information from Italy, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and2:00Latvia.2:01Seized items included jamming devices, documents, suspected false identity papers,2:06and storage media.2:07Businessman Ionel Russin, also rendered as E.O.2:10Ann Russin, was co-detained on 21 September and placed under the same 60-day2:14judicial control.2:16Italian citizen Massimiliano Arena, aged about 56 and presented in some accounts as2:21linked to a wealth bank, is named in the same alleged group but was not among those2:25placed in 24-hour detention.2:27Possible scrutiny of Cristella Georgescu was mentioned.2:30No conviction has been entered and the presumption of innocence applies to all2:34named.2:34Prosecutors asked the Bucharest Court to place Georgescu and Russin in preventive2:39arrest for 30 days.2:40The tribunal rejected that for both and ordered 60 days of judicial control running2:4522nd September to 20 November 2026, enforceable immediately but not final.2:50Conditions are remaining in Romania, periodic reporting to police and no contact2:54with case parties.2:55The court found insufficient grounds as formulated for flight risk and witness3:00tampering, in part because the alleged facts date to 2021.3:04The Directorate appealed and that appeal remains pending.3:07Georgescu was released the same day.3:09Only the annulled election makes the new file legible.3:12Running as an independent, declaring zero campaign spending, Georgescu won the first3:16round held 24th of November 2024.3:19On 6th of December 2024, 48 hours before the scheduled 8 December runoff, the3:24Constitutional Court in ruling number 32 annulled the entire 2024 presidential3:29electoral process and ordered it repeated to ensure correctness and legality amid3:33manipulation through non-transparent methods, opaque funding, and a massive Russian3:37influence campaign in his favor, including coordinated influencers on TikTok.3:41A rerun followed in 2025.3:43The fraud file adds to at least two existing criminal files with no final verdict or3:48conviction.3:48On 26 February 2025, he was charged on six counts and placed under judicial control3:53from February 2025 to April 2026.3:57On 2 July 2025, the General Prosecutor's Office sent him to trial for promoting the4:02cult of persons guilty of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, and4:06publicly promoting fascist, legionary, racist, or xenophobic ideas.4:10Naming figures including Ion Antonescu and Cornelius Alea Kodreanu.4:15On 9.10 February 2026, a Bucharest tribunal panel rejected his lawyer's appeal and4:20ordered the propaganda case to trial on the merits, with a further hearing on the4:2419th of August 2026 at the Sector I Court.4:27Separately, he was investigated for actions against the Constitutional Order,4:31reclassified on 4 August 2025 from Instigator to Accomplice, alongside mercenary4:36leader Horachi Potra and 20 other defendants, with the High Court of Cassation and4:40Justice deciding on 6 August 2026 that that trial may begin.Explore with HeyDexFollow via RSSThe shortThe short ↗