Bucharest Mayor investigated by DNA for corruption
Ciprian Ciucu, the capital's mayor, has been placed under judicial supervision by anti-corruption prosecutors in a bribery case.
Bucharest Mayor investigated by DNA for corruption
Anti-corruption prosecutors have decided to place Ciprian Ciucu, the current chief mayor of the capital, under judicial supervision in a criminal case concerning the alleged receipt of undue benefits. The restrictive measure has been applied for 60 days, beginning from 18 June 2026. The alleged acts would have been committed during the period when he held the office of mayor of Sector 6.
The investigation was separated from another case, opened at the beginning of December 2025, which concerned the manner in which licences for gambling activities were issued. In that file, a citizen of Bulgarian origin and a person of Romanian nationality received arrest warrants for 30 days at the request of DNA, being charged with giving bribes, complicity in the receipt of undue benefits and determining a public official to disclose confidential data.
According to the evidence gathered, in November 2025, two entrepreneurs are alleged to have made electoral promotion services and political consultation available to Ciucu, provided in November-December 2025. These advantages are alleged to have been offered to support the mayor's political campaign, in exchange for speeding up administrative formalities at the sector town hall concerning an apartment complex in the city. A third businessman is alleged to have mediated contact between those who provided the benefits and the public official.
In the initial case, investigators found that between November 2025 and March 2026, an accused person is alleged to have transferred to an employee of the National Office for Gambling, through three separate operations, 1,500 euros and 2,000 lei. Later, she is alleged to have offered other sums to expedite professional documents and is alleged to have convinced the official to allow her to consult documents of a secret nature.
At the same time, in April 2026, a commercial company in the gambling sphere is alleged to have promised 100,000 euros to an ONJN employee, through an authorised collaborator, so that inspections at the company's address would be concluded without sanctions and without notification to the prosecutor's offices or the Office for the Prevention and Combating of Money Laundering. Of this sum, 50,000 euros is alleged to have been paid in two instalments, and the remaining 50,000 euros were handed over on 16 June 2026, at which point a flagrant discovery took place.
Source: Digi24