DIICOT dismantles Bihor network that exploited hundreds of disabled people for millions of lei

The network

A criminal group led by Viorel Pașca, 55, operated since 2020 under the cover of the association "Dumbrava - Dumnezeu Poartă de Grijă". The group, built on family ties, included Pașca's relatives Florica, Daniel-Sabin, Viorel-Emanuel, and Abel-Timotei Pașca, according to G4Media sources. They posed as a humanitarian organization offering social and medical care, but in reality they exploited hundreds of people with mental disabilities.

The leader of the organized criminal group recruited, received and sheltered hundreds of people in a state of obvious vulnerability, people with mental disabilities who could not defend themselves or express their will, and kept them in a state of dependence and servitude.

Exploitation and conditions

Victims were brought from hospitals and social assistance departments across several counties and housed in makeshift buildings in Holod, Ceica, Tinca, and Lăzăreni. The group lacked any legal authorization or professional capacity to provide social services. Care was provided by unqualified and insufficient staff, medications were administered incorrectly or not at all, and victims were not properly supervised.

The victims were kept in a state of dependence and lack of autonomy, without medical care, although they suffered from mental illnesses and other health problems.

Financial scheme

The network collected donations, sponsorships, and the victims' own benefits: pensions, disability allowances, social benefits, fuel aid, and even funeral assistance. The total damage is estimated at over 13 million lei (approximately 2.5 million euros). The group deceived donors and families into believing they were providing genuine care.

Deaths and cover-up

Some victims died in the group's facilities. The bodies were buried on a plot of land near a Greek-Catholic cemetery, while the group pocketed the state funeral aid. DIICOT stated that the victims who died were buried in this way, and the sums granted as funeral aid were collected by the group.

The injured persons who died in the spaces held by the organized criminal group were buried on a land situated in the proximity of the Greek-Catholic cemetery, the amounts granted as funeral aid being collected by the group.

Raids and investigation

On Tuesday, June 30, 2026, DIICOT prosecutors and criminal investigation police executed 27 search warrants in Bihor county, including at the Holod town hall and the association's headquarters. The investigation, initiated ex officio, targets charges of forming an organized criminal group, human trafficking in continued form, and complicity. The searches are part of a case that has shocked Romania.