Last year, the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police (IGPR) spent more than 2 million euros to bring to the country people who were evading criminal prosecution or execution of punishments, according to the data communicated at the request of HotNews. In order to recover the money, the Romanian Police sued the fugitives. In the fall of 2024, a law came into force that allows the state to take action against fugitives to recoup their expenses.
- 11 famous convicts are on the list of the great fugitives who evade the execution of sentences, according to the data provided to HotNews by the Ministry of Justice. The number is half of the list that the institution made public for the first time in 2022, because the others had their convictions overturned.
In the year 2025, the Romanian Police spent 10 million lei to bring to the country people who evaded prosecution, trial or the execution of sentences, according to the data communicated by the IGPR at the request of HotNews.
The highest costs were represented by the cost of plane tickets for police officers and extradited persons: 8.3 million lei.
In addition to these amounts, the Romanian Police spent 477,797 lei per day for police officers, 1,216,757 lei for accommodation and 155,304 lei for internal transport expenses.
The costs remain at the level of previous years, as well as the number of fugitives brought into the country.
Law of recovery of money spent on catching
Table of Contents
- Law of recovery of money spent on catching
- 548 court actions per year: 6 million lei were recovered
- Bringing a fugitive from Buenos Aires cost almost 8,000 euros
- Two famous fugitives brought into the country in the last three years
- Who are the ones who got off the famous fugitives list?
- Executions taken over by Italy, the preferred country of the fugitives
- Who else is on the list of the great fugitives?
Considering the high costs that the state spends on bringing fugitives into the country, two years ago, the Ministry of Justice, led at the time by Alina Gorghiu, initiated a draft law on the recovery of expenses from fugitives.
The law entered into force in the fall of 2024 and has two scenarios in mind. The case in which the fugitive evades prosecution or trial and the expenses incurred by the state for bringing him into the country to be taken into account when determining legal expenses.
If the fugitive manages to flee the country after being definitively convicted, the expenses incurred by the state to bring him to Romania are to be recovered through an action in the civil court, the owner of the action being the ministry that incurred the expenses.
548 court actions per year: 6 million lei were recovered
IGPR informed HotNews that last year “the Romanian Police filed 548 actions in court against requested, extradited or extraditable persons, for the recovery of the sums caused by bringing them into the country, the total amount of the sums recovered being 6,871,373.2 lei”.
The actions opened by the IGPR in court, resolved so far, have been admitted, according to the centralized data on the court portal.
There were also situations in which fugitives sued paid the expenses willingly, the courts taking note of the payment.
The last such case was recorded at the end of the year in Galati County, where a man paid 12,000 lei to the Romanian Police, money spent to bring him to the country from Great Britain. He was evading the execution of a conviction in a drug trafficking case, according to the decision of the Liești Court, which noted the payment made by the fugitive.
Bringing a fugitive from Buenos Aires cost almost 8,000 euros
For bringing a fugitive from a European country into the country, the average costs are between 10,000 and 12,000 lei. The highest costs are recorded in the case of missions on other continents.
In 2024, the most expensive trips to bring refugees into the country were to Buenos Aires, Argentina – 7,925 euros and Baku, Azerbadjian (8,240 euros), according to IGPR data.
In 2024, until November, 682 fugitives were brought to the country, the Ministry of Justice reported. Except for the group of Horațiu Potra, no other name on the list of famous fugitives was brought to the country.
Two famous fugitives brought into the country in the last three years
In 2022, the Romanian Ministry of Justice made public for the first time the list of famous fugitives – defendants and convicts who settled in other countries before the national courts issued warrants for their arrest or execution of sentences. 23 high-profile individuals were then in the institution’s records, and officials announced that extradition proceedings were underway for all of them.
Three years later, 11 people remained on the list of the great fugitives, although only two famous convicts were brought to the country: Cristian Rizea, extradited from the Republic of Moldova, and the former mayor of Slatina, Minel Prina, brought from Italy. Rizea had fled to Moldova before being sentenced to 4 years and 8 months in prison in a case of influence peddling and money laundering, and the former mayor of Slatina was evading a sentence of 4 years and 6 months in prison in a corruption case in which the Minister of Finance, Darius Vâlcov, was also convicted.
Who are the ones who got off the famous fugitives list?
The former head of DIICOT, Alina Bica, and a number of famous businessmen convicted in corruption cases are no longer on the list of the great fugitives of the Ministry of Justice in 2022, according to the response provided to HotNews. The European arrest warrants issued in their name were revoked following decisions of the Romanian courts.
Alina Bica
On October 3, this year, the Bucharest Court of Appeal (CAB) decided, through a definitive decision, to withdraw the European warrant for the execution of the prison sentence and the European arrest warrant that had been issued in the name of the former head of DIICOT, Alina Bica.
The CAB judges determined that Bica has fully served the 4-year sentence received in 2019 in a case regarding the favoring of businessman Ovidiu Tender. The warrant issued in her name was never executed. Bica was put on international watch and was detained in July 2020 in Italy. The Italian authorities refused his surrender.
Currently, Alina Bica is back in the public space, offering legal advice on social networks.
Puiu Popoviciu
Considered one of the richest Romanians, the businessman Gabriel Aurel Popoviciu, known as Puiu Popoviciu, was sentenced in 2017 to 7 years in prison for complicity in abuse of office in a qualified form and for bribery in the case regarding the retrocessions from “Ferma Băneasa”.
Popoviciu settled in Great Britain, where the authorities refused to hand him over.
In January 2025, the Supreme Court of Romania annulled the 7-year sentence, after admitting the extraordinary way of attack exercised by Puiu Popoviciu.
Dragos Savulescu
Former shareholder of the Dinamo club, the businessman Dragoș Săvulescu is no longer on the list of the great fugitives after obtaining a decision similar to that of the former head of DIICOT.
In February this year, the High Court of Cassation and Justice admitted the challenge to the execution submitted by Săvulescu and definitively canceled the European arrest warrant issued in his name, as a result of the recognition of the execution of the sentence in Italy.
The Italian authorities refused the surrender, deciding to execute and adapt the sentence according to Italian law.
Alexander Bogdan Adamescu
In 2016, the Bucharest Court of Appeal issued an arrest warrant against Alexander Bogdan Adamescu, the son of businessman Dan Adamescu, in a case in which he was accused of bribing some judges.
The authorities in Great Britain, where Alexander Bogdan Adamescu had settled, refused his surrender.
In August 2024, the Bucharest Court of Appeal definitively revoked the arrest warrant issued in Adamescu’s name. The decision was taken after in February 2024, a judge at the Bucharest Court ordered the annulment of all the evidence collected by DNA prosecutors and decided to return the file to the prosecutor’s office.
John Neculaie
The former owner of FC Brașov, the businessman Ioan Neculaie, is no longer on the list of the great fugitives.
In January 2022, the businessman from Brașov was sentenced to two years and two months in prison for non-compliance with the weapons and ammunition regime. Neculaie was accused by prosecutors of firing a gun at the wheels of his own car in 2017, angry that he had broken down just before going on a hunting trip. He fled the country, changing his appearance in the hope that he would no longer be recognized. The businessman had surgery on his face, dyed his hair and beard. He was caught in Greece a week after the Romanian sentence.
In December 2022, Neculaie obtained the annulment of the conviction following an extraordinary appeal. The Brașov Court of Appeal admitted an appeal for annulment, citing that the statute of limitations had expired.
Shmuel Sorin Beraru (Bar Or)
For over 20 years, the Romanian authorities requested the extradition from Israel of the businessman Sorin Beraru, who changed his identity to Shmuel Bar Or. Sentenced to 5 years in prison for money laundering in the CICO SA privatization case, the businessman obtained the protection of the Israeli state. The authorities in Tel Aviv have refused his extradition on the grounds that the essential condition of double criminality is not met.
The Ministry of Justice announced that, currently, Shmuel Sorin Beraru (Bar Or) is not on the international watch list.
Marko Attilo Gabor
From 2015 until 2022, UDMR deputy Marko Attilo Gabor was on the “Most wanted” list of fugitives wanted by the Romanian Police. Targeted by several DNA files, Marko Attilo Gabor obtained acquittal at the High Court of Cassation and Justice which, in September 2022, in a file regarding the compensation ordered by the National Authority for the Restitution of Properties. With the pronouncement of the final sentence, it found that the measure of preventive arrest was terminated by law and ordered the withdrawal of the enforcement forms.
In 2023, Marko Attilo Gabor returned to Romania, and in 2024 he was again elected deputy on the UDMR lists.
Executions taken over by Italy, the preferred country of the fugitives
In the case of several famous fugitives, Italy – the country where most of the notorious convicts settled – refused to hand them over, requesting that the execution of the sentences be taken over on Italian territory. According to the procedures, the convictions ordered by the Romanian courts are adapted according to the Italian legislation.
On the list of fugitives for whom Italy requested the execution of sentences on Italian territory:
- Gabriel Sorin Strutinskybusiness partner of the former mayor of Constanța, Radu Mazăre.
Definitively sentenced on Monday to 10 years and 8 months in prison for acts of corruption, Struntinsky settled in Italy, where the authorities refused his extradition.
“The execution of the sentence has been taken over by the Italian authorities”, stated the officials of the Ministry of Justice.
- Romeo Alba, businessman convicted in the case of the former capital mayor Sorin Oprescu
Six years in prison was the punishment received by the businessman Bogdan Albu in the case in which the former mayor of Bucharest, Sorin Oprescu, was also targeted, in his turn on the list of great fugitives. A court in Naples opposed the extradition of the Romanian businessman. The Italian authorities decided to take over the execution of the sentence.
- Cornel Popa, former director in Bucharest City Hall
Former director of the Cemeteries Administration within Bucharest City Hall and godfather of businessman Romeo Albu, Cornel Popa was sentenced to 11 years and 6 months in prison, in the case of Sorin Oprescu, being accused that he was the one who took the bribe to the residence of the former mayor. And in his case, the authorities in Italy decided that the sentence should be carried out on Italian territory, as the convict requested.
Who else is on the list of the great fugitives?
Of the 23 famous fugitives, on the list of the Ministry of Justice in 2022, only 11 are still there today, the institution announcing that the procedures in their case are ongoing. They are:
- Sorin Mircea Oprescu Oprescu
Sentenced to 10 years in prison for acts of corruption, the former mayor of the capital, Sorin Oprescu, fled to Greece before the final sentence was handed down in 2022. A European arrest warrant was issued in his name, but the Greek authorities refused extradition, citing the harsh conditions of detention in Romania. From 2022 until 2025, Oprescu filed eight extraordinary appeals in the Romanian courts in an attempt to escape conviction.
At the beginning of October, the Greek authorities detained Sorin Oprescu again, but the Supreme Court in Athens decided to place him under judicial control during the judicial proceedings. Oprescu refuses extradition.
Sentenced to 8 years in prison in the case of the accident caused in 2019 and resulting in the death of a 24-year-old young man, Mario Iorgulescu did not serve a single day in prison.
A few days after the accident, Mario Iorgulescu, who had caused the accident due to drug use and excessive speed, was transferred by his family to Italy. The authorities opposed the extradition. The Italian authorities refused the surrender on the grounds that following forensic examinations it was established that his mental state irreversibly prevents him from consciously participating in the trial.
The Ministry of Justice announces that in the case of Iorgulescu “the surrender procedure is ongoing in the relationship with the Italian authorities”.
Former PDL MEP, Marian Zlotea, was sentenced, in January 2021, to 8 years and 6 months in prison, for influence peddling and bribery for acts committed while he was head of the National Animal Health and Safety Authority. Before the final conviction he fled to Italy. The authorities there refused to surrender citing the same inadequate conditions in Romanian penitentiaries. Zlotea requested the execution of the sentence in Italy. The procedure for recognizing the conviction issued by the Romanian court is ongoing, the Ministry of Justice announces.
- Paul Philippe of Romania
Sentenced to 3 years and 4 months in prison in the Băneasa Farm retrocession case, Paul of Romania, a descendant of King Carol II, is on the wanted list of the Romanian Police. Three courts in France and Malta opposed his extradition to Romania. And in his case, the Ministry of Justice states that the surrender procedure is ongoing in the relationship with the French authorities.
Former officer of the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI), Daniel Dragomir has been on the wanted list of the Romanian Police for 5 years. Sentenced in 2020 to 3 years and 10 months in prison for influence peddling, money laundering and improper participation in the forgery of documents under private signature, Dragomir fled to Italy the day before the court pronounced the final sentence in his case. He surrendered to the Italian authorities, and the Bari Court of Appeal refused his extradition, citing the conditions of detention in Romania. Dragomir requested the commutation of the sentence under Italian law.
The former president of the Neamț County Council, Ionel Arsene, also fled to Italy in 2023, before the Romanian judges sentenced him to 6 years and 8 months in prison in the case in which he was tried for influence peddling.
As in the case of the other famous fugitives, the Italian courts refused to extradite Arsene, citing both the detention conditions in Romanian prisons and a fragile mental state of the former president of CJ Neamț.
Arsene continues to be on the wanted list of the Romanian Police.
Former owner of the Shapir Structures company, with the help of which former mayor Radu Mazăre built the “Henri Coandă” social housing district in Constanța, Avraham Mogenstern is being prosecuted internationally in order to serve a 12-year prison sentence for tax evasion. He was finally sentenced in August 2017, but the warrant for the execution of the sentence was not implemented because Morgentern fled the country. He was caught in Argentina. The Romanian authorities sent an extradition request, but the procedures were not fully resolved.
- Florian Tudor (called the Shark)
Known as one of the most feared Romanian underworld, Florian Tudor has been under international investigation since 2021. In the Romanian prosecutors’ investigation, in which the Bucharest Court ordered his arrest in absentia, Florian Tudor is accused of forming an organized criminal group, blackmail and inciting attempted murder.
Rise Project wrote that through the “Riviera Maya” group, Florian Tudor coordinated vast networks specialized in card cloning and money laundering, which operated on the territories of several states in the United States, Mexico and Brazil.
He was caught in Mexico in 2021, but the extradition procedure is still ongoing with the Mexican authorities, MJ announces.
Israeli billionaire Benyamin Steinmetz was put under international investigation after he was definitively sentenced to 5 years in prison in December 2020 in the Ferma Băneasa case and arrested a year later in Athens. The Greek authorities refused to hand him over to Romania, Greece considering that he did not benefit from a fair trial. Steinmetz continued to appear on the international wanted list.
He was also detained by authorities in Cyprus and Greece, the last time in 2024, but extradition proceedings were not successfully completed. Benyamin Steinmetz is still being followed internationally.
Former government adviser in the Călin Popescu Tăriceanu Government, Nela Ignatenco was sentenced in 2020 to 5 years in prison in the Ferma Băneasa case. Ignatenco fled the country before the final sentence was announced. She was located in Belgium, but the authorities there refused to extradite her. Surrender proceedings are ongoing in her case as well.
Former officer in the Bucharest Emergency Inspectorate, Antonina Radu is the only defendant sentenced to execution from the Collective file who did not end up in prison. He went to the Republic of Moldova, also having Moldovan citizenship, while the case in the Collective file was pending in the Romanian courts. Definitively sentenced to 8 years and 8 months in prison, Antonina Radu initiated several legal proceedings in the Republic of Moldova, requesting that the sentence be adapted to the legislation of the Republic of Moldova and that the execution of the sentence be carried out there as well.
HotNews wrote about the decisions of the courts in Chisinau that decided to re-judge the case, showing in the motivation that the facts imputed to Antonina Radu were time-barred according to the legislation of the Republic of Moldova.
