DIICOT: microphones planted at Georgescu's, suspect attempted to detect them
DIICOT confirms that it installed surveillance devices at Călin Georgescu's residence on 21 September. A fourth criminal case has been opened against the former presidential candidate.
Fourth criminal case opened against Călin Georgescu following attempt to neutralise DIICOT microphones
Prosecutors from DIICOT and officers from the Criminal Investigation Directorate of the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police executed two home search warrants in Bucharest on Wednesday, 21 October. The case concerns the offences of illegal operations with computer devices or programmes, attempted tampering with the integrity of computer data and disruption of the functioning of computer systems, according to Gândul.
It is the fourth criminal case opened against the former presidential election candidate, Călin Georgescu.
DIICOT representatives confirmed that the equipment which Georgescu allegedly attempted to destroy had been installed on 21 September — the date on which he had been detained for 24 hours in another case.
How the Mogoșoaia operation proceeded
According to DIICOT's statement, on 26 September, a suspect aged 35 years proceeded, at the request of another suspect aged 64 years, to scan the property in Mogoșoaia commune, Ilfov county. The stated purpose of the operation was to identify the technical means of audio-video recording installed by judicial authorities, as well as to alter or disrupt the computer systems used for technical surveillance.
The two suspects were aware of the circumstances, DIICOT specifies: the home search from 21 September had been carried out precisely at that property, in the context of a case in which technical surveillance measures had been implemented.
"The intended result, namely the alteration of computer data and the disruption or damage of the technical means used by judicial authorities, did not occur, for reasons independent of the suspects' will," the institution's statement reads.
Hearings at DIICOT central headquarters
Călin Georgescu was brought on Wednesday to DIICOT headquarters – Central Structure, together with the second suspect, the 35-year-old man. The operation was assisted by officers from the Special Intervention Brigade of the Gendarmerie.
In an earlier case, Georgescu had been detained on 21 September, being accused of forming an organised criminal group and fraud with particularly serious consequences, in continuous form. According to investigators, a businessman had been prejudiced by approximately 1.1 million euro.
DIICOT emphasised that, throughout the entire course of the criminal proceedings, the persons under investigation benefit from the rights and procedural guarantees provided by the Criminal Procedure Code, as well as from the presumption of innocence.
Source: Gândul