A Romanian court sentenced an ex-prosecutor and a former senior tax official to prison Thursday for allegedly accepting bribes from a businessman who wanted a court case resolved in his favour.
The High Court of Cassation and Justice gave Alina Bica, the former chief prosecutor for the agency that investigates organized crime and terrorism, a 3 1/2-year sentence for aiding a wrongdoer.
The former head of the tax authority, Serban Pop, received five years for influence trafficking. Businessman Horia Simu received a 4-year term for buying influence. The sentences can be appealed.
Prosecutors say Pop, acting on Simu's behalf, gave Bica a bribe of 17,500 euro ($18,700) in November 2014.
In return, Bica replaced a prosecutor who was investigating Simu for improprieties involving the country's property restitution program and put pressure on another prosecutor to drop the case.
Prosecutors said Simu allegedly took part in a scheme that resulted in the government vastly overpaying to compensate for the communist-era seizure of 97,000 sq. meters (1 million sq. feet) of land.
Five former property restitution officials and two former lawmakers also were implicated in the alleged scheme.
This content appears as provided to The Globe by the originating wire service. It has not been edited by Globe staff.