The President of the Digitalization Authority of Romania (ADR) Dragos Vlad, who was part of the Romanian delegation that took part in a working visit to the Republic of Moldova on December 12, was stopped driving a stolen car belonging to the Government, and the car was seized by the police.

ADR clarified that the institution was the fourth institutional owner of the car and “did not know that the car appeared in the international database of public order institutions.” Therefore, at the moment, the car is going through the legal procedures required by this international warning, ADR added, according to News.ro.

“We encountered an unpleasant situation at the border. One of the two cars was checked and we received information that this car has an alarm system. The car in question has been in the heritage of the Romanian Digitization Authority since 2020, since the establishment of this institution, as a result of accepting the heritage of previous institutions. There are documents in this sense, based on protocols. This car drove around four public institutions. According to the court verdict back in 2017, by which this property was confiscated, it is part of the heritage of ANAF. ANAF forwards it free of charge in capital letters to the Ministry of Communications, noting that it is part of a civil case. We were allowed further access to the territory of the Republic of Moldova with the caveat that when additional information comes, I will be notified. As soon as I received a message from the Consulate of Romania in the Republic of Moldova, I handed over the car to the authorities there. The handover procedure, pending clarification, took place at the end of the visit to the Republic of Moldova. There is a problem, it has been confirmed that there is a warning and it needs to be checked with the country of origin of this car – Italy,” Dragos Vlad said on Antena 3 on Wednesday.

How did the car come into ADR’s possession / Why was it not known that it was stolen?

“The border police confirms that the car of the relevant person was detained in accordance with the mandate of Interpol. After our report that it was an international wanted man declared by the Italian authorities, the citizen personally presented the car to the border police. Currently, the car is not available on the territory of the inspection until the situation is clarified and a decision is made,” Raisa Nowicki, a press officer of the border police of Moldova, told TVR1.

ADR, the car’s fourth institutional owner, says it was unaware the car was in an international law enforcement database.

And when asked why for so many years no one had any idea that the car was wanted by the Italian police, ADR also answers that insufficient digitization is to blame as well as the absence of a system that would allow the interconnection of databases managed by the Romanian state with databases of EU member states.

The role of ANAF

In fact, he got the car for free from ANAF, who had it since 2017 by court order. For its part, this institution also does not know the reasons why the car is registered in systems outside the country as stolen.

“ANAF, through the Office of Executive Proceedings in Special Cases, carries out coercive measures and enforcement procedures in special executive cases, in respect of which court decisions have been issued in criminal cases, as well as in other cases established by the order of the President of ANAF accordingly. capitalization of property seized and/or confiscated in criminal cases, as well as confiscated in civil cases, in the manner prescribed by law, including coordination and monitoring of forced collection and capitalization methods.

The Operational Directorate for the Seizure of Confiscated Goods (DOVBC) as part of the DGESCS has powers in the sphere of seizure of goods which, according to the law, are in the private property of the state, both in criminal cases and in civil cases, in accordance with the provisions of OG No. 14/2007 on the regulation of the order and terms of capitalization of goods that have come under the law into the private ownership of the state, has been republished with the following changes and additions.

In the understanding of the provisions of Art. 2 years a) from OG No. 14/2007, reissued, with the following changes and additions, the valorization authority is understood as DOVBK as part of the DGESCS through its territorial structures with the authority to valorize goods that are in accordance with the law in the private ownership of the state.

Criminal verdict no. 2253/27.02.2018, issued by the Bucharest Court – First Criminal Section in case 16475/3/2017, final in criminal decision no. 58/07/02/2018 the Bucharest Court of Appeal ordered the confiscation of the Audi A5 car.

On 04/11/2017, the car was handed over to the authorized body for collection in accordance with the collection procedure provided for by OG no. 14/2007 on regulation of the order and conditions of capitalization of goods that have come into the private ownership of the state in accordance with the law, reissued with further changes and additions, and GD No. 731/2007 on approval of Methodological norms for the application of OG no. 14/2007, reissued with the following changes and additions.

On November 27, 2018, the car was sent to the Ministry of Public Finance – the Main Department of Legislation and Regulation in the State Property Sector for the purpose of providing it free of charge. After the convocation of the Interdepartmental Commission, created at the level of the General Secretariat of the Government, it was handed over to the Ministry of Communications and Informatization free of charge and handed over on February 27, 2019.

At the ANAF level, the reasons why the car is registered in the systems outside the country as stolen are unknown,” said the agency’s press release sent to TVR 1.