Dragalin: Răducanu Investigation Is Not Based on Platon’s Seized Phones

The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office letter, in which Chief Veronica Dragalin questioned the incorruptibility of Judge Tatiana Răducanu, a Pre-Vetting commission member, is not based on data from the phones seized in 2016 from wanted businessman with a controversial reputation Veaceslav Platon. Dragalin said this on Jurnal TV yesterday, commenting on rumors that all suspicions about Răducanu and Platon’s ties were based on SMS from phones seized from the businessman in 2016. The head of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office said that the investigation was at the early stage and she had received evidence of Răducanu’s link to Platon and Colenco on 10 April 2024. The prosecutor sent an information note with the evidence and the criminal proceedings started on 30 April. She added that the data on the contacts stems not from the phones seized from Platon in 2016, but from other sources. Dragalin considered the correspondence between the judge and the scandalous businessman and the information that the media had published about that relationship back in 2013-2014 to be real. Yesterday, the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (AP) recognized as authentic the letter questioning the integrity of the Pre-Vetting Commission for External Evaluation of Judges and Prosecutors member, Tatiana Răducanu, who resigned the day before. The institution emphasized that it was not trying to discredit the vetting process of judges and prosecutors, but was acting solely in the interest of ensuring the justice system reliability and criminal corruption cases under its jurisdiction. The AP believes that there were certain omissions in the justice system reforming, for which prosecutors and judges were not held accountable. However, it acknowledged the presence of ‘toxic people’ in the justice system, but assured that the reformed Superior Council of Magistracy and the Superior Council of Prosecutors would apply disciplinary measures to them and the National Integrity Agency would check their financial activity. The day before, the member of the Pre-Vetting Commission for External Evaluation of Judges and Prosecutors Applying for Positions in the Superior Council of Magistracy and the Superior Council of Prosecutors, Tatiana Răducanu, resigned. This happened after the online appearance of the letter in which the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office head, Veronica Dragalin, questioned her integrity. The published letter says that the AP head informed civil society, prosecutors and judges that Răducanu was allegedly acting in the interests of Veaceslav Platon and Ilan Șor’s lawyer Aureliu Colenco. On the other hand, in her resignation statement to the Parliament Tatiana Răducanu claims that the accusations made in the letter on behalf of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office are false and untrue.