Bucharest court to rule on extending Călin Georgescu's pretrial detention

A hearing on 26 October

The Bucharest Tribunal is due to hear a request from DIICOT prosecutors to extend Călin Georgescu's pretrial detention by a further 30 days, with the session scheduled for 26 October at 11:00. Georgescu, a former presidential candidate, has been held at the Bucharest Central Arrest since 29 September, having been detained by prosecutors on 21 September. He has challenged the measure. The judges must decide whether to prolong it, and the outcome will determine whether he remains in custody.

The fraud case

Georgescu is accused, in the prosecutors' file, of setting up an organised criminal group and of continued aggravated fraud. The investigation began with a complaint filed with DIICOT by a businessman from Buzău, who says he lost 1.1 million euros. Prosecutors allege that the businessman was introduced to Georgescu through a mutual friend and offered a role in a precious metals trading deal that required a 6 million euro credit line. He was then asked to pay a 1 million euro guarantee, of which 100,000 euros was to finance Georgescu's presidential campaign, and a further 100,000 euros later, with the promise that the loan could rise to 15 million euros. The loan never materialised and the guarantee was not returned. According to the file, the alleged scheme began in September 2021, first in Bucharest and Argeș County and later in the United Kingdom. Two co-accused, one of them an Italian citizen, are named in the case.

House arrest overturned on appeal

On 13 October, judge Vlad Andriescu of the Bucharest Tribunal granted Georgescu's request to replace pretrial detention with house arrest. That decision was overturned on 23 October, when the Bucharest Court of Appeal definitively rejected the switch. The same judge had earlier turned down prosecutors' request for pretrial detention and placed Georgescu under judicial control, and that decision was challenged in the higher court, which ordered 30 days of pretrial detention. The current extension request follows from that order.

Two further criminal files

Since his detention, two more criminal files have been opened against him. According to G4Media, one concerns allegations that he looked for and destroyed surveillance equipment that prosecutors had placed in his home in Mogoșoaia. ProTV reports that on 21 October DIICOT charged him with asking a man to scan the villa for recording devices. A separate file, opened by Buftea prosecutors, alleges that on 7 October, while under judicial control, he made a Legionary salute outside a church in Buftea. He was questioned about that case at the Central Arrest on 22 October.

What is being decided

Prosecutors are asking for the detention to be extended by 30 days, and the tribunal will rule at the 26 October hearing. Georgescu is also facing the separate Buftea and Mogoșoaia matters, which are not part of the detention request on 26 October. The outcome will show whether the court keeps him in custody while the fraud investigation continues.