Prosecutors from the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) are conducting searches on Friday morning at the Joint Logistics Command of the Romanian Army.
The prosecutors investigating corruption offenses committed by military personnel „are carrying out investigations in a criminal case concerning suspicions of committing, between 2022 – 2023, offenses similar to corruption by public officials and their accomplices,” as officially communicated by DNA.
Simultaneously, 22 searches are taking place at individuals, company headquarters, and a public institution, in Bucharest, Giurgiu, and Ilfov.
The target in this case is General Cătălin Ștefăniță Zisu, the Logistics Commander of the Army, who is under investigation in a fraud case with an estimated damage of over 2.4 million euros, according to judicial sources cited by G4Media. Searches are also being conducted at the Haiducului Hotel, where General Zisu resides.
General Zisu allegedly awarded a contract for the extension of the Ghencea Military Cemetery to the company Garden Center Grup, owned by businessman Ionel Olteanu. DNA prosecutors suspect that costs were inflated through fictitious works, such as soil evacuation and filling with rubble.
Mediafax reports that the investigation targets both the general and his son.
21 individuals are expected to be brought to the DNA with warrants, including General Zisu and Ionel Olteanu, the owner of Garden Center Grup.
Who is General Zisu
Zisu became a general at only 37 years old, being the youngest general in the Romanian Army. At that time, he was close to Minister Victor Babiuc.
Later, in 2006, he obtained a doctorate thanks to General Gabriel Oprea.
He has always been involved in several high-profile affairs.
We find him in the scandals that have plagued Steaua Club: the lease auctions for the Ghencea stadium, the establishment of the joint-stock company SC FC Steaua SA, the exchange of land between Gigi Becali and MoD.
On the other hand, in the internal scandal within the Army, Zisu was criticized for transferring the most profitable tourist units (hotels, health centers, dormitories) under the Directorate he led. These were under the administration of an Army Corps existing in each county, accessible to all military personnel. Later on, the MoD personnel would only have permission with the approval of General Zisu from Logistics, as reported by Mediafax.