DNA Oradea sends head of SGC Bihor, Dorel Dume, to trial for damages of 1.1 million lei
DNA Oradea has ordered the trial of Dorel Dume, current head of SGC Bihor, for abuse of office and damages of over 1.1 million lei.
Dorel Dume sent to trial by DNA Oradea, but remains in post at SGC Bihor
DNA Oradea has completed its investigation and sent Dorel Dume, current head of SGC Bihor, to trial for abuse of office through obtaining undue gain in continuous form, with damages estimated at over 1.1 million lei, according to ebihoreanul.ro. He will be tried alongside Valerică Anichitoaie, his former subordinate and head of the Financial-Accounting Service of the institution, accused of complicity.
A third defendant, Dorin Marian Privantu — Dume's son-in-law, appointed as internal public auditor of the institution — concluded a guilty plea agreement with DNA and escaped with less than two years' imprisonment with suspension and community service.
Fraud scheme: shell companies and inflated prices
According to the indictment, the fraud mechanism operated between 20 December 2017 and 18 May 2022, a period during which Dume held successively the positions of director of ABA Crișuri and deputy general director of the National Administration "Romanian Waters" (ANAR).
Prosecutors claim that Dume, assisted by Anichitoaie and Privantu, devised and implemented a system based on four companies that he controlled from behind the scenes. These became suppliers of goods and services to the institutions he managed. The companies purchased cheaply from actual suppliers, then resold at much higher prices to ABA Crișuri and ANAR. The difference was withdrawn from cash machines by accomplices or by Dume himself.
Through the 112 material transactions identified, the defendants caused total damages estimated at 1,171,459 lei. ABA Crișuri and ANAR became civil parties in the case, seeking recovery of the sums.
Roles in the scheme
Privantu was tasked with identifying actual suppliers from whom goods and services could be purchased at the lowest possible prices. Dume would then send Anichitoaie lists and pre-signed necessity reports with product names, quantities, CPV codes, technical specifications and prices. On the basis of these, the two would upload onto the SEAP platform, in the name of the shell companies, offers tailored exactly to the "needs" of the institutions.
DNA shows that Dume used his influence to ensure that heads of structures within ABA Crișuri and ANAR would select offers from the companies he controlled, even though these had "high and very high" prices. In other cases, purchases were made outside SEAP, bypassing the procurement specialists of the institutions. Some invoices were certified even though the goods or services listed on them had not been delivered.
Sometimes the entire purchase was conducted on an emergency basis and completed on the same day, including the bank transfer, and platform operations were carried out outside working hours.
Example of pest control services
A specific case concerns pest control, disinfection, insect control, transport and equipment repair services. The shell companies invoiced these to ABA Crișuri even though they did not have authorised personnel to provide them. The services were actually carried out by another company, and the institution ended up paying inflated prices. To justify their provision, undated, unstamped specifications were submitted without indicating the value or date of execution.
Investigation published as early as 2019
The mechanism now described by DNA was known to readers of BIHOREANUL. The newspaper documented it as early as November 2019, in the investigation "Dorele, I've caught you!", revealing how Dume conducted business with the institution through Gold Deraclean SRL — a company registered in the name of his former neighbour, Gheorghe Iernea.
Established in December 2017, with a single employee and with the main object of activity in the cleaning sector, Gold Deraclean had come to sell Romanian Waters almost anything: from pest control services to crockery, televisions and construction materials. In less than two years, the editorial team identified 98 contracts directly awarded to the company, with a total value of 403,996 lei. The company had practically no other clients outside Romanian Waters, and with a turnover of approximately 400,000 lei, it had accumulated a net profit of nearly 169,000 lei.
The purchases "followed" Dume's career. After his promotion to Bucharest, to the position of deputy general director of ANAR, Gold Deraclean began to deliver to the central office as well. On 30 May 2019 alone, the institution concluded 33 contracts with the Oradea-based company for various products — from plates and pillowcases to televisions — at prices higher than those in retail trade.
Reporters from BIHOREANUL found the legal owner of the company, Gheorghe Iernea, in the same building where Dume had lived, thus confirming the link between the two.
Remains in post despite being sent to trial
Almost seven years after the first revelations by BIHOREANUL and despite being sent to trial, Dorel Dume continues to hold the position of head of SGC Bihor. The two main defendants risk years of heavy imprisonment, with the case set to be tried by the tribunal.
Source: Google News RO — Crime (ro)