Bucharest's mayor under arrest

Bucharest's mayor Sorin Oprescu is in 30-day temporary custody, pending trial, for bribe taking.

The ruling, while not final, is nevertheless executory. Sorin Oprescu has been detained after receiving a tranche of 25,000 euros of a total of 60,000 which he allegedly requested from four persons through one of his subordinates, who mediated the bribe.

One of the four people who reported on Oprescu said he gave the mayor 1 million euros between 2013 and 2015.

According to investigators, the mayor received the bribe at his home near Bucharest, where he had taken Mafia-style precaution measures.

He would meet his visitors in a gazebo in the garden, with everybody leaving their phones in a jamming device when discussing "business" to make sure they aren't tapped, the person who reported on Oprescu also said.

To secure solid evidence, investigators marked the bills that were to be given to Oprescu as bribe.

After the money exchanged hands, the mayor was followed for a while from a distance. In the evening, when his car was stopped, investigators found some of the marked bills in his possession, while the rest of the money was found at his home.

On Sunday, anti-corruption prosecutors searched the mayor's home, the City Hall headquarters and other City Hall buildings and made some more arrests, including the mayor's driver, the director of the Mogosoaia Palace and her deputy.

According to the National Anticorruption Directorate, between 2013 and 2015, a well-organised group that also included Sorin Oprescu created a system within the local administration in Bucharest by which companies applying for contracts with public institutions subordinated to the City Hall had to give some of their profits to the persons who helped them win these contracts.

The companies in question would be able to retain 30-33% of their net profit, while the rest went to City Hall officials in bribe, including 10% of the value of the contract to mayor Sorin Oprescu himself.

A doctor by training and a former member of the ruling Social Democratic Party, Sorin Oprescu has been a mayor of Bucharest since 2008 and is currently serving his second term.

According to his wealth statement, he owns 1,000 sqm of land near Bucharest and 500 sqm in the mountain resort of Predeal, as well as a house and an apartment.

Sorin Oprescu also owns art and religious objects worth 65,000 euros, jewellery, watches and electronic equipment worth 25,000 euros, as well as 65,000 euros in his bank accounts.