Costel Iancu
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Costel Iancu (known in the press as ''Dom' Costel'', Mr. Costel) is a
Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
n politician who has been involved in a scandal in which he was accused of
kidnapping Kidnapping or abduction is the unlawful abduction and confinement of a person against their will, and is a crime in many jurisdictions. Kidnapping may be accomplished by use of force or fear, or a victim may be enticed into confinement by frau ...
local businessmen and taking photographs of them naked and in chains.Cristian Şt. Vasilcoiu
EXCLUSIV EVZ: "Dom’ Costel", demnitarul interlop, achitat de Curtea Supremă
''Evenimentul Zilei'', November 16, 2011


Political career

A member of the ruling Democratic Liberal Party (PD-L), Iancu won a term as a member of the
Dolj County Dolj County (; originally meant ''Dol(no)-Jiu River, Jiu'', "lower Jiu", as opposed to ''Gorj'' (''upper Jiu'')) is a county (județ) of Romania on the border with Bulgaria, in Oltenia, with the capital city at Craiova. Demographics In 2011, ...
Council. He was also the PD-L Senate candidate in Calafat, and although he won the most votes, because he had less than 50% of the votes, he lost his place during the redistribution of the votes.Dom’ Costel, demnitarul interlop
20 February 2009, Evenimentul Zilei
On 25 February 2009, he was named by the government as the Director of the National Administration of Land Improvement, a function that is equivalent with a secretary of state in the
Ministry of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...
. Following the kidnappings scandal which reached the press, he resigned.


Kidnappings

Andrei Alexandru (from
Vâlcea County Vâlcea County (also spelt ''Vîlcea''; ) is a county (județ) that lies in south-central Romania. Located in the Historical regions of Romania, historical regions of Oltenia and Muntenia (which are separated by the Olt (river), Olt River), it i ...
, residing in
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
) claims he was kidnapped in 2006, together with his wife. On the ring road of
Craiova Craiova (, also , ) is the largest city in southwestern Romania, List of Romanian cities, the seventh largest city in the country and the capital of Dolj County, situated near the east bank of the river Jiu River, Jiu in central Oltenia. It i ...
, he was caught between a
Volkswagen Touareg The Volkswagen Touareg (German pronunciation: ) is a Luxury car, mid-size luxury crossover SUV produced by Volkswagen since 2002. The vehicle is named after the nomadic Tuareg people, inhabitants of the Sahara desert, Saharan interior in North A ...
and several other cars. Alexandru claimed that around 10-15 people got out of the cars, including Iancu, who began to hit him with the fists in the head, then took him in the Volkswagen, while holding a gun to his neck. According to Andrei Alexandru, he was held overnight and released only after he said he will make Iancu an associate at his company.Directorul ANIF, Costel Iancu, a demisionat
February 21, 2009, mediafax.ro
In the testimony against Iancu, another victim, Constantin Niţu claimed that Iancu kicked him, after which he undressed, chained him and urinated on him, kept him in the rain and cold for several days, during which he took a number of photographs. Niţu claimed Iancu said he did the same with a number of other people and he knows how to keep people quiet, showing his gun and claiming he'd shoot both Niţu and his father. Another victim, Adrian Radu (from Mehedinți) said that together with five men, Iancu took him to a
hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...
where they took his mobile phone and some of the associates of Iancu, Robert Ştefăniţă Bîltac ann Geromin Victor Bîltac began hitting him with the fists in the face and threatening they'll kill him with a pistol. Organized Crime department of the police discovered photographs with one of the victims, naked and in chains while wearing a sign saying "I am a rag. Don't do like me, I made a mistake with Mr. Costel". According to the prosecutors, Iancu kept the photos for intimidating other people who opposed him.


Trial

On October 27, 2006, the prosecutors accused him of organized crime, kidnapping, threats and violence. Although the prosecutors asked to be taken in custody by the police, the Dolj Courthouse denied this."Berceanu, cu „Dom’ Costel” în braţe"
''Evenimentul Zilei'', February 12, 2009
The case was brought to trial in March 2009, Iancu being accused together with his accomplices: *
Marian Sandu Marian Sandu (born 5 May 1972 in Ploieşti, Prahova, Romania) is a retired Romanian wrestler and Olympic champion in Greco-Roman wrestling. Sandu has competed in four Olympics, from 1992 to 2004. At the 1992 Summer Olympics in B ...
, formerly known as Cristescu, aka Fibră - an associate of Ion Clămparu * Laurenţiu Gheorghe Capotescu aka Pătatu’ * Lucian, Geromin Victor and Robert Ştefăniţă Bîltac In the first trial, at the Dolj Courthouse, he was found not guilty, the judge Stan Prodănescu retiring short time after this. The same decision was found at the Court of Appeals and, on 15 November 2011, the
High Court of Cassation and Justice The High Court of Cassation and Justice () is Romania's supreme court. It is the equivalent of France's Cour de Cassation and serves a similar function to other courts of cassation around the world. Naming history It held various names durin ...
ended the trial with a final and irrevocable verdict of "not guilty". Two of the three judges at the High Court of Cassation and Justice retired during the trial in order to avoid the case and one of those judges being replaced with a controversial judge, Sofica Dumitraşcu, the judge known for releasing convicted terrorist
Omar Hayssam Omar Hayssam (, born January 3, 1963) is a Syrian later naturalized Romanian financier who was sentenced ''in absentia'' to 20 years in prison after a Romanian court found him guilty of masterminding the kidnapping of three Romanian journalists in ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iancu, Costel Councillors in Romania Democratic Liberal Party (Romania) politicians Living people Year of birth missing (living people)