Bribery at Anatomy: two assistants at UMC Ovidius detained by DNA Constanța for 15 corruption counts
Two university assistants at the Faculty of Medicine "Ovidius" Constanța have been detained by DNA for bribery in anatomy examinations. The total sum exceeds €37,100.
University assistants at Medicine "Ovidius" detained after allegedly demanding up to €2,500 per examination
Two university assistants at the Faculty of Medicine of "Ovidius" University in Constanța were detained on 5 September 2026 by prosecutors from the National Anticorruption Directorate – Constanța territorial office, after allegedly receiving bribes on 15 occasions for fraudulent passage of make-up examinations in the Anatomy subject. According to G4Media, two students accused of complicity were also detained alongside them.
Who are the accused
DNA prosecutors have initiated criminal proceedings against four persons:
- Raluca Talpeș, university assistant at the Anatomy department, accused of taking bribes in continuous form – 15 material acts.
- Batuhan Omeroglu, university assistant at the same faculty, accused of complicity in taking bribes in continuous form – 15 material acts.
- I.A. and Z.I.D., students at the Faculty of Medicine, each accused of complicity in taking bribes in continuous form – 15 material acts each.
All four were presented to Constanța Court with a proposal for 30-day preventive arrest.
How the bribery scheme worked
According to prosecutors' ordinances, in the period May–September 2026, Raluca Talpeș, in her capacity as a member of the examination board at the Anatomy department, allegedly demanded and received money from students enrolled in make-up examination sessions from 6–12 July 2026 and 1–6 September 2026. The sums were collected through the other three accused.
Batuhan Omeroglu, I.A. and Z.I.D. allegedly identified students willing to pay, collected the money and assured them they would pass the examinations in exchange for the sums handed over. Each intermediary allegedly retained a variable commission from the collected sums, with the difference reaching the teaching staff member conducting the examination.
The rates practised ranged from €600 for a colloquium to €2,500 for an examination, per student. The total value of benefits identified so far amounts to over €37,100, with at least 15 students implicated in the case.
Searches in 26 locations
On 4 September 2026, DNA prosecutors in Constanța carried out searches in 26 locations in Constanța municipality and county: residences of private individuals, medical offices, the headquarters of a higher education institution and the headquarters of a medical unit. Sums of money that could not be justified were identified and seized. According to prosecutors, other persons are being pursued criminally in the case.
"Ovidius" University, targeted by DNA in 2013
The institution is not facing such accusations for the first time. In 2013, DNA prosecutors caught former rector Dănuț Epure red-handed accepting a bribe for providing subjects for the entrance examination to the Faculty of Pharmacy. Epure was definitively convicted to 3 years imprisonment with suspension for taking bribes and subsequently expelled from the academic staff. An attempt to return to the university failed, amendments to the "Ovidius" University Charter blocking this possibility. At present, Epure is in preventive arrest in a case involving procuring.
Presumption of innocence
DNA prosecutors clarify that initiating criminal proceedings represents a procedural step provided for in the Criminal Procedure Code, the purpose of which is to create the framework for administering evidence, and that this cannot, in any circumstance, infringe the principle of presumption of innocence.
Source: G4Media