>From - Sat Mar 02 00:57:29 2024
Received: by 10.11.11.30 with SMTP id 30mr23661cwk;
Wed, 15 Feb 2006 18:48:10 -0800 (PST)
Return-Path: <jm..._at_tscm.com>
Received: from ams004.useripd.ftl.affinity.com (lvs00-fl-n04.valueweb.net [216.219.253.138])
by mx.googlegroups.com with ESMTP id v23si20346cwb.2006.02.15.18.48.09;
Wed, 15 Feb 2006 18:48:10 -0800 (PST)
Received-SPF: neutral (googlegroups.com: 216.219.253.138 is neither permitted nor denied by best guess record for domain of jm..._at_tscm.com)
Received: from [129.44.186.95] ([129.44.186.95]:32523 "EHLO nikola.tscm.com")
by ams004.ftl.affinity.com with ESMTP id S1387814AbWBPCsJ (ORCPT
<rfc822;T..._at_googlegroups.com>);
Wed, 15 Feb 2006 21:48:09 -0500
Message-Id: <6.2.3.4.2.20060215213311.09208350_at_pop.tscm.com>
X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 6.2.3.4
Date: Wed, 15 Feb 2006 21:36:02 -0500
To: TSCM-L <TSCM-..._at_googlegroups.com>
From: "James M. Atkinson" <jm..._at_tscm.com>
Subject: Rompetrol sues intelligence agency
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain
http://www.daily-news.ro/article_detail.php?idarticle=22761
Rompetrol sues intelligence agency
Alecs Iancu
The oil group said it seeks one million dollars in moral damages over
the allegedly illegal interception of the phone conversations of the
group's chairman, Dinu Patriciu.
"The phone tapping was done, according to the company's lawyers, in
severe, repeated and irresponsible violation of procedural laws in
question, the penal procedure code and the national security law,"
shows a press release from the oil group Rompetrol.
Today, the group's lawyers will officially open the suit against the
Romanian Intelligence Agency for intercepting the phone conversations
of the group's chairman Dinu Patriciu, seeking moral damages worth
one million dollars.
The move came as the issue of the phone interception in the Rompetrol
case stirred controversy, with Patriciu repeatedly claiming that the
interception was illegal.
The Rompetrol CEO was told about the tapping during a recent hearing
at the High Court Prosecutor's Office, which is currently
investigating him in relation to stock exchange manipulation charges.
Patriciu said that prosecutors told him they had intercepted his
phone conversations since 2003 based on the national security law.
The Rompetrol head accused prosecutors and the intelligence services
of having tapped his phones illegally, as the investigation against
him only began last year.
Patriciu and Rompetrol also filed a complaint regarding the issue of
Parliament's committees in charge of controlling the intelligence
agency. The parliamentary committee in charge of controlling the
intelligence service subsequently heard Intelligence Chief Radu
Timofte, who said the interceptions were authorized and that the
information found during the interceptions was transmitted to prosecutors.
Rompetrol, however, contested the legality of the interceptions.
The press release from the oil group underlines that the suspicion
that the group or its CEO were involved in actions that could have
endangered national security brought serious harm to the group's
image. Thus, besides the one million dollars, Rompetrol may also ask
additional damages based on what losses the group had because of the
investigation.
The decision comes following the confused and inconsistent response
of the authorities regarding the reason on which the phones were intercepted.
The investigation into the stock exchange manipulation case is
focused on the fact that several businesspeople bought Rompetrol
shares at low prices and sold them soon after at a much higher value
In the case, Rompetrol chairman Dinu Patriciu and the group's vice
president Phil Stephenson are under investigation in relation to
manipulation of the stock exchange with Rompetrol shares in April 2004.
Charges related to using confidential stock exchange data were
brought against journalist Sorin Rosca Stanescu, while former
Communication Minister Sorin Pantis was also charged in the case.
Rosca Stanescu, a leading journalist with years of experience in the
media, who owns daily Ziua and other newspapers, also alleged that
his phones were intercepted and so were the conversations of several
other employees of Ziua. The journalist also expressed his opinion
that the investigation was ordered by President Traian Basescu with
the purpose of discrediting Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu.
Last year, prosecutors ordered that the bank accounts of about 60
politicians, businessmen and journalists be checked. The list
includes Rosca Stanescu and Tariceanu, who is known as a friend and
former business partner of Patriciu.
The prime minister was also heard in the case and recently rejected
accusations that he had privileged information about the stock
exchange when he decided to buy Rompetrol shares.
Charges of organized crime offences in Rompetrol case
New charges related to organized crime offences were leveled in the
Rompetrol stock exchange manipulation case yesterday, as the vice
president of the National Securities Commission Paul Miclaus was
accused of favoring the offender and of joining an organized crime group.
Miclaus was summoned to the High Court Prosecutor's Office yesterday
to be informed about the charges brought against him.
According to Miclaus, prosecutors alleged that he used his position
to prevent the truth about the transactions with Rompetrol shares
from emerging. "They believe I have done that because, as I have been
in the Securities Commission since 2000 following parliamentary
negotiations of the Liberal Party, I may have some connection with
Patriciu," Miclaus said.
The commission's vice-president denied the accusations as unfounded.
He said the Securities Commission sent information about the
Rompetrol shares transactions to the National Anticorruption
Prosecutor's Office, the Office against Money Laundering and the
National Control Authority in June 2004.
"We asked authorities to check these operations. From my point of
view, we're not dealing with stock exchange manipulation operations,"
Miclaus added. He explained that the information sent by the
commission in 2004 included details of all operations and the
conclusions of two independent commissions which had checked the transactions.
He also said that he could not specify whether other illegalities
were committed with Rompetrol shares on the market.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We Expertly Hunt Real Spies, Real Eavesdroppers, and Real Wiretappers.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
James M. Atkinson Phone: (978) 546-3803
Granite Island Group Fax: (978) 546-9467
127 Eastern Avenue #291 Web:
http://www.tscm.com/
Gloucester, MA 01931-8008 Email: mailto:jm..._at_tscm.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
World Class, Professional, Ethical, and Competent Bug Sweeps, and
Wiretap Detection using Sophisticated Laboratory Grade Test Equipment.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Received on Sat Mar 02 2024 - 00:57:29 CST