Director of AFIR Constanța arrested for 30 days in corrupt prosecutors case
Daniel Dumitru Learciu, head of AFIR Constanța, has been remanded in custody for 30 days, accused of handing over approximately 110,000 euros to a prosecutor.
Preventive detention for AFIR Constanța director following payments of 110,000 euros to a prosecutor
Daniel Dumitru Learciu, executive director of the Agency for Financing Rural Investments (AFIR) Constanța, was remanded in preventive custody on Saturday for 30 days, according to Google News RO — Crime (ro). The High Court of Cassation and Justice ordered the measure, with the decision not yet final.
Learciu is accused of purchasing influence in its continuing form. According to the General Prosecutor's Office, he handed over directly a total sum of approximately 110,000 euros and various goods to a prosecutor at the Prosecutor's Office attached to the Court of Appeal Constanța.
"In the period December 2025 – April 2026, at various intervals and on the basis of the same criminal intent, specifically on 12 December 2025, 20 April, 23 April and 27 April 2026, whilst being in an office within the premises of the Prosecutor's Office attached to the Court of Appeal Constanța, the accused handed over directly a total sum of approximately 110,000 euros and goods to a prosecutor," the General Prosecutor's Office stated.
The institution specifies that the prosecutor in question had previously made use of the influence and authority conferred by the position held, giving the impression that he could intervene with certain public officials or persons with decision-making responsibilities.
Two senior prosecutors previously arrested in the same case
The case also concerns prosecutors Gigi Valentin Ștefan and Teodor Niță from the Prosecutor's Office of the Court of Appeal Constanța, remanded in preventive custody following searches carried out in May in Constanța. The General Prosecutor's Office maintains that the two had close ties with the political and business environment, intervening in cases or with other institutions to obtain favourable outcomes for people in their circles.
Prosecutor Gigi Valentin Ștefan is accused of receiving approximately 60,000 euros in bribes from a person to whom he promised he would intervene with a colleague from the prosecutor's office for the favourable resolution of a criminal case. The same magistrate allegedly assured the person offering the bribe that he had influence over the judges trying his cases, according to the General Prosecutor's Office.
Ștefan is further accused that, in the period December 2025 – May 2026, he received approximately 110,000 euros, goods and other benefits from persons interested in the favourable resolution of criminal, administrative or professional matters. In exchange for these, the prosecutor allegedly exercised or promised he would exercise his influence to expedite procedures, obtain favourable outcomes, intervene in criminal cases, facilitate professional transfers or support business ventures and economic projects.
Prosecutor Teodor Niță is accused of attempting to influence an officer from the Emergency Situations Inspectorate of Constanța County to refrain from applying legal measures against a commercial company administered by a person close to the magistrate.
Decades-long careers in the Constanța judicial system
Gigi Valentin Ștefan has 28 years of seniority in the prosecutor's office, holding various leadership positions throughout his career at prosecutor's units in Constanța County. Between 2016 and 2024 he held the position of prosecutor general of the Prosecutor's Office attached to the Court of Appeal Constanța. Teodor Niță has been working as a prosecutor in Constanța for 19 years; in 2020 he unsuccessfully stood for the leadership of DIICOT.
As for Learciu, the PSD Constanța announced on 18 May that he had self-suspended himself from the party and resigned from his position as county councillor, following the first searches by investigators in the corruption case, according to Agerpres.
Source: Google News RO — Crime (ro)