The High Court of Cassation and Justice (Romania's Supreme Court) on Friday ordered National Bank of Romania (BNR the central bank) deputy governor Bogdan Olteanu into 30-day house arrest. The decision is subject to appeals.
The case, prosecuted by the National Anticorruption Directorat (DNA), is for influence peddling by Olteanu, to appoint the Danube Delta Governor. Olteanu, then Chamber of Deputies Speaker, has allegedly asked and got a one million euro bribe in July-November 2008 from businessman Sorin Ovidiu Vantu (now convicted for the third time in an unrelated case) to support Liviu Mihaiu's nomination as head of the Danube Delta administration. The DNA had asked the court to take Olteanu into preventive custody.
Olteanu's lawyer Constantin Durgheu had announced earlier on Friday that the defendant will resign from his position at the BNR.