Sebastian Ghita, Puiu Popoviciu, Adrian Sirbu and Ion Bazac are just some of the Romanian millionaires who fear for the money they deposited in the banks in Cyprus.
They all have deposited some of their fortunes in the Cypriot tax haven to avoid the taxes in our countries and now their money is blocked. The National daily journalists came into the possession of a list featuring over 5,000 Romanian-Cypriot companies which cannot access their money.
One of the Romanian millionaires appearing on the National journalists list is Deputy Sebastian Ghita PSD. The document shows that he has recorded through one of his companies registered in Cyprus a turnover of over one million Euros. He earned a profit of 600,000 Euros, while the Romanian state could not charge him any tax. Ghita’s companies were involved in several scandals with criminal flavor, and in 2011 they were accused of carrying suspicious activity between them, like money laundering operations.
The controversial businessman Puiu Popoviciu appears in the document, with three companies registered in Cyprus. The turnover of these companies amounts to over 22 million, with profits of nearly one million Euros. Popoviciu is being accused by the DNA prosecutors that he had bought a plot of land from the University of Agricultural Sciences at a price much undervalued incurring damages to the state budget amounting to 336 million.
Another Romanian who fears for his money blocked in Cyprus is Adrian Sârbu. One of his
companies with a turnover of three million Euros and a profit of 200,000 Euros, has Cypriot ownership. This is the company that owns several ski lifts in Sinaia, Busteni and Predeal.
The former PSD Minister of Health, Ion Bazac runs his business away from home. As sole importer of the Ferrari cars, he registered all his estate in a company in Cyprus, which owns over 94% of the Romanian company. Bazac's company stated in 2011 a turnover of over 7 million and a profit of 100,000 Euros.
The list of Romanian millionaires with businesses in Cyprus features Gruia Stoica, nicknamed the "king of coaches." He owns the largest private rail freight transportation and his shareholders are linked to Cyprus. Gruia Stoica acquired Reloc SA Craiova, which holds shares in a Cypriot investment fund. Following this acquisition, the company received a contract for 1.2 million Euros from CFR Passengers for refurbishment of some tank engines.