Dan Grigore Adamescu (20 September 1948 – 24 January 2017) was a Romanian businessman who was the founder of the Nova Group, and was the second richest Romanian in 2013. In 2016, he was sentenced to four years and four months in jail for bribing judges at his companies' insolvency trials.
Career

Born in
Vaideeni
Vaideeni is a commune located in Vâlcea County, Oltenia, 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 ...
,
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 ...
, Adamescu entered business in 1971, after graduating from the
Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies
The Bucharest University of Economic Studies (, abbreviated ASE) is a public university in Bucharest, Romania. Founded in 1913 as the ''Academy of Higher-level Commercial and Industrial Studies'' (''Academia de Înalte Studii Comerciale și Indu ...
.
Adamescu held Romanian and German citizenships.
He spent eleven years working in Germany, and returned to Romania in 1989. He made his wealth in the early 1990s, when Romania was moving from
communism
Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...
to capitalism.
Adamescu was critical of the Romanian Government's anti-corruption policies.
In 2013,
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
estimated Adamescu's
net worth
Net worth is the value of all the non-financial and financial assets owned by an individual or institution minus the value of all its outstanding liabilities. Financial assets minus outstanding liabilities equal net financial assets, so net w ...
at US$900 million, making him the second-richest Romanian, after
Ioan Niculae
Ioan Niculae (born 19 July 1954) is a Romanian businessman, best known for his ownership of InterAgro and the Astra Giurgiu football club. In August 2018, his net worth was estimated at $700 million.
Overview
He is the owner of the Inter ...
. At the time, he was the majority shareholder of The Nova Group, which owned companies including
România Liberă
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central, 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 the east, and the Black Sea t ...
, Astra Insurance,
ASC Oțelul Galați
Asociația Clubul Sportiv Suporter Club Oțelul Galați (), commonly known as Oțelul Galați or simply as Oțelul, is a Romanian Association football, football club based in the city of Galați, Galați County, which competes in the Liga I.
Fo ...
, and the
Unirea Shopping Center
Unirea Shopping Center is a chain of two large shopping centres, the initial one being located in Unirii Square, Bucharest, Romania, and the second one in Brașov.
Bucharest
Opened in 1976 and enlarged in 1989, it was the largest department sto ...
. In 2015, Forbes Romania estimated his net worth to be €550 million.
[ In October 2016, Alexander Adamescu, Dan's son, denied that his father had affiliations with ]Black Cube
Black Cube (BC Strategy Ltd) is a private intelligence agency based in London, Tel Aviv, and Madrid. The company was founded in 2010 by former Israeli intelligence officers Dan Zorella (in Hebrew: דן זורלא) and Avi Yanus (in Hebrew: א� ...
. HotNews.ro
HotNews is one of the oldest and biggest Romanian news sites focused mainly on general topics, finance, politics, and current affairs. The website constantly publishes news, interviews, video documentaries, and opinion pieces.
History
The websi ...
had claimed Adamescu was a client of Black Cube.[
]
Arrest and trial
In 2013, Adamescu's company Astra Insurance went bankrupt; his family blamed the Romanian state for causing the bankruptcy.[ During the bankruptcy trial, Adamescu was alleged to have bribed judges €20,000.] In May 2014, Victor Ponta
Victor Viorel Ponta (; born 20 September 1972) is a Romanian politician and jurist who served as Prime Minister of Romania from 2012 to 2015. He was president of the Social Democratic Party (Romania), Social Democratic Party (PSD) from 2010 to ...
predicted that Adamescu would be arrested for corruption. Adamescu was arrested a few weeks afterwards. In the same year, one of the judges was arrested, after which Adamescu's lawyer allegedly committed suicide by throwing himself under a train.[ In March 2016, Adamescu was charged with causing $191 million of damages to Astra Insurance.][ In May 2016, he was sentenced to four years and four months in jail for corruption.][
]
Illness and death
In November 2016, Adamescu's parole
Parole, also known as provisional release, supervised release, or being on paper, is a form of early release of a prisoner, prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated ...
request, based on ill health, was rejected by a local court.[ In December, he had knee surgery, after which he developed infections.][ He was in an ]induced coma
An induced comaalso known as a medically induced coma (MIC), barbiturate-induced coma, or drug-induced comais a temporary coma (a deep state of unconsciousness) brought on by a controlled dose of an anesthetic drug, often a barbiturate such as pe ...
from December 2016 until his death on 24 January 2017, and had been suffering from sepsis
Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs.
This initial stage of sepsis is followed by suppression of the immune system. Common signs and s ...
.[ Adamescu was buried in the Lutheran section of ]Bellu Cemetery
Șerban Vodă Cemetery (commonly known as Bellu Cemetery) is the largest and most famous cemetery in Bucharest, Romania.
It is located on a plot of land donated to the local administration by Baron Barbu Bellu. It has been in use since 1858. T ...
.
Family
Adamescu was married to Carmen Palade, general manager of Unirea Shopping Center
Unirea Shopping Center is a chain of two large shopping centres, the initial one being located in Unirii Square, Bucharest, Romania, and the second one in Brașov.
Bucharest
Opened in 1976 and enlarged in 1989, it was the largest department sto ...
for "many years". In October 2016, Palade, Ademescu's ex-wife, attempted to sue him for ownership of the Unirea Shopping Center. As of October 2018, Palade is being held by Romanian authorities after "several hours of hearings" on suspicion of embezzlement and tax evasion. Palade had fought for control of the Nova Group with her husband and stepson, Alexander Adamescu, and was removed as head of Nova in 2017, with Alexander taking over after his father's death.
Alexander Adamescu, a director of his father's company, was accused by Romania's National Anticorruption Directorate
The National Anticorruption Directorate (), formerly National Anticorruption Prosecution Office (), is the Romanian agency tasked with preventing, investigating and prosecuting Political corruption, corruption-related offenses (such as bribery, g ...
(DNA) of consenting to bribery. In May 2016 Romanian courts issued two national arrest warrants against Adamescu and then converted into a European Arrest Warrant
The European Arrest Warrant (EAW) is an arrest warrant valid throughout all member states of the European Union (EU). Once issued, it requires another member state to arrest and transfer a criminal suspect or sentenced person to the issuing stat ...
in connection with his father's case. On 13 June 2016, he was arrested by British police. In an interview with ''The Times
''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'', he said he "fears that he will die in prison like his father if the Romanian government secures his extradition.
On 29 March 2017 during a hearing involving Adamescu's Dutch holding company Nova Group Investments and Romania, the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes
The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) is an international arbitration institution established in 1966 for legal dispute resolution and conciliation between international investors and States. ICSID is part of an ...
tribunal recommended that Romania withdraw (or otherwise suspend operation of) the European Arrest Warrant against Adamescu, and called upon Romania to "refrain from reissuing or transmitting any other EAW against him". On 10 April 2017, Romania asked the ICSID to reconsider its recommendation but this was rejected and the recommendation upheld.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adamescu, Dan
1948 births
2017 deaths
People from Vâlcea County
Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies alumni
21st-century Romanian businesspeople
Romanian white-collar criminals
Romanian people who died in prison custody
Prisoners and detainees of Romania
Deaths from sepsis
Burials at Bellu Cemetery
Romanian billionaires
20th-century Romanian businesspeople