Prahova District Council President (CJ) Iulian Dumitrescu, who is being investigated by DNA prosecutors under judicial review for crimes of bribery and falsification of evidence, announced Thursday evening that he is resigning from all positions he held in the PNL, as he says: “the party does not has nothing to do with this case.”

Iulian Dumitrescu served as the first vice-president of the National Liberal Party, and also headed the pro-choice branch of the PNL.

We will remind, Julian Dumitrescu was interrogated for several hours on Thursday in the central structure of the DNA, and later he was taken under judicial control for a period of 60 days. Anti-corruption prosecutors reported that he is under judicial control for the crime of bribery and perjury.

According to DNA, he could have received more than 16 million lei from the businessman through some relatives, and the investigators formulated charges of falsifying property declarations in his case. “The sums in question were allegedly spent mainly on trips abroad and the purchase of luxury items outside the country, a private high school, tennis lessons, renting an elite residential complex, etc.,” prosecutors say.

In a post published on his Facebook page on Thursday evening, Iulian Dumitrescu announced:

• “Given the existence of the file in which DNA made public accusations against me, I have taken the decision to resign from all positions in the PNL, as the party has nothing to do with this case.
• As I stated earlier, I provided the prosecutors with all the necessary information and data.
• I am working with government agencies to find out the cause and find out the actual truth.
• According to the law, I still have the presumption of innocence.”

Who is Julian Dumitrescu?

At the age of 51, Dumitrescu was born in the county of Prahova, in Valenia de Munte, but most of his political career was spent in the county of Calaras.

Iulian Dumitrescu had two mandates as a senator from PNL: 2012-2016, senator from Calaras, 2016-2020, senator from Prahov.

Before the local elections in 2020, he headed the PNL branch in Prakhov, establishing his place of residence in the city of Plopeni. He ran for the Prahova District Council from the PNL, receiving the support of the USR in 2020. The then president of USR Prahova, Mihai Policeanu, publicly announced that the party would support Dumitrescu for the post of president of CJ Prahova.

As soon as he became the head of the Prahova County Council, Dumitrescu supported his old colleagues in other important positions, whom he brought to Prahova from Kalaras County, where they held positions in the administration of this county, writes News.ro.

An example in this regard is Dumitru Tudone, the former general secretary of the Kalarash County Council, who moved to Prahova County to work in the county’s local administration. Tudone’s family is in Kelerash, according to sources close to the politician. At the time he was elected vice-president of the Prahova County Council, Tudone was sent to the DNA court, later acquitted.

During the more than three years since he headed CJ Prahova, Julian Dumitrescu was accused of rarely coming to the office, his political opponents claimed in informal discussions that he was running the institution “by phone”.

Iulian Dumitrescu entered into a direct conflict with Ploiesti Mayor Andrii Volosevic, who during this mandate accused President KJ Prahov of taking several actions or rejecting some measures in order to damage the public image of Ploiesti Mayor, although both were elected under the same party logo.

Elected first vice-president of the PNL in September 2021 in the “winning team” of Florin Citsu, Julian Dumitrescu, one of the most influential leaders of the PNL, ran for the position of Minister of Transport in October 2021 in the PNL-UDMR minority government with Prime Minister Nicolae Chuke

In the summer of 2021, Iulian Dumitrescu and liberal senator George Stange were registered by DNA in the office of Catalin Drula, then Minister of Transport, whom they asked to leave as heads of the Romanian Association for Saving Human Lives at Sea and the River Administration of the Lower Danube Galaţi, according to the proposal for a preventive the arrest filed by DNA prosecutors of the Constanța Court, with the advice of G4Media.ro.

Loans of almost 150,000 euros for PNL and individuals

According to the latest wealth declaration, made in June 2023, Iulian Dumitrescu and his wife own an apartment of more than 150 square meters, bought in 2008, and one of 45 square meters, bought in 2005, as well as a 2014 Range Rover release .

In 2023, Dumitrescu named among the loans 45,000 euros given to the National Liberal Party, as well as three loans to individuals for a total of 170,000 lei and 70,000 euros.

President CJ Prahova has several accounts in lei totaling less than 70,000 lei.

In the “debts” section, he mentions a loan of almost €127,000 with First Bank due in 2036, as well as a loan from an individual for $180,000 taken out in 2012 due this year.

In 2022, he collected 164,268 lei from CJ Prahova.

In 2020, he sold a plot of land for almost one million lei to a company, land located in Ilfov county, and on the same day he sold another plot of land located in Dambovitsa county to the same company for 775,000 lei.