An obscure company from Vicovu de Jos, Suceava County, has become in recent years the dominant supplier of footwear for the law enforcement institutions in Romania, despite officially having zero or very few employees and operating in a warehouse belonging to a bankrupt company with debts amounting to tens of millions of lei.
The information is revealed in an investigation published by Reporter de Iași, showing how Bocanci.com SRL, a company established in 2021, has signed contracts worth approximately 55 million lei (over 11 million euros) with structures under the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Huge public contracts, almost non-existent competition
Over the past two years, Bocanci.com has won framework agreements and subsequent contracts with the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police, the General Inspectorate of the Border Police, ISU, SRI, the Gendarmerie, sub-officer schools, penitentiaries, and other structures. In many cases, the company was the sole bidder, and where there were other bidders, their offers were deemed "non-compliant" or "unacceptable."
Only with the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police and the Border Police, Bocanci.com has signed five framework agreements worth nearly 46 million lei, in conditions of virtually no competition.
Zero employees on paper, tens of thousands of pairs delivered
A major anomaly highlighted by the investigation is the number of employees. In three out of the four years for which public data exists, the company owned by Salome Carcea is listed at the Ministry of Finance with zero employees, and in one year with only one. The company's director, George Carcea (brother of shareholder Salome Carcea), attributed the situation to an error.
"It's an error. Last year we had around 15 employees," he stated.
Even so, according to official data, Bocanci.com delivered only to the Border Police in 2025, 30,700 pairs of footwear, for which they received almost 11 million lei, that is, over 2 million euros. All this with a minimal number of employees relative to the production volume.
Warehouse and equipment belonging to a bankrupt company
Bocanci.com does not own its own production space or equipment. The company operates in a warehouse and with the equipment of a bankrupt company, Agdesy SRL, previously controlled by the current director's father, Ioan Carcea. Agdesy has been bankrupt since 2013 and has total debts of over 31 million lei, including to the state.
For over a decade, liquidators have been trying to monetize the warehouse and the 6,500 sqm land currently used by Bocanci.com, but the procedures are stalled in court.
Local debts, but continuous public funds
According to local authorities, the property tax has not been paid for approximately 12 years, and the Vicovu de Jos City Hall has been unsuccessfully trying to seize the assets. Nevertheless, the company continues to win contracts funded by public money.
The deputy mayor of the locality stated that he was unaware of the contracts with the Romanian Police but confirmed the existence of debts: "It's been 12 years since they paid the property tax."
Company's explanations
George Carcea maintains that the production of tactical footwear is complex, subject to strict controls and high technical requirements, which is why many companies fail to submit compliant bids.
"All others failed in the technical aspect. Or we were the only ones submitting an offer," he stated, claiming that the production flow is closely monitored by authorities for each order.
A difficult-to-explain discrepancy
The investigation by Reporter de Iași concludes that Bocanci.com produces footwear for the Romanian state's law enforcement institutions using the infrastructure of a bankrupt company with huge debts, while the actual number of employees and production capacity remain unclear.
Meanwhile, public contracts continue to flow, in the absence of real competition.