Friday, March 22nd 2002: "Omerta in Bucharest"

The scandal of the companies set up in Romania by the Italian mafiosi keeps growing. Yesterday, Romanian police confirmed the information published in the Evenimentul Zilei daily. It offered new details to the media about the tentacles of the Italian mafia in Romania. Our daily wrote that three Italians, who have been found in the Peninsula as having top connections with the Sicilian Mafia (Costa Nostra), set up two companies in Romania in association with Paul Brener, a Romanian who emigrated to Italy 40 years ago. Brener carried out business in Romania since the time of the former Securitate's. After 1999 he had ties with important persons - former and current dignitaries, higher-ranking state employees, and businessmen. In Italy, the investigators suspected Paul Brener of being the link between the Cosa Nostra and this organization's deals in Romania.

At a news conference held yesterday Romanian police confirmed the truth of the information exposed by Evenimentul Zilei. In addition, they pointed out it is not only about three Italians from two companies who are present in Romania, but about four Italians who have top connections in Cosa Nostra. They own no less than 18 Romanian companies. Also yesterday, all the Italian media published extended reports about the reports from Romania, alongside the extensive operations conducted by the Italian police. This shows the importance it attaches to this topic. For this reason it is increasingly difficult to understand the Romanian authorities' reaction. (Except for the police, who have conducted the investigation in close collaboration with the Italian Carabinieri's representatives in Bucharest.) Instead of taking the information published in Evenimentul Zilei seriously (information taken over and extended both by the Italian and Romanian media), our dignitaries keep making us feel they are not at all interested in what is going on. Consequently, one cannot explain why they failed to announce at once the initiation of an investigation aiming at finding whether the Italian Mafia's presence in Romania has also contaminated the political environment in Bucharest. They could also have informed us who has been entangled into the Costa Nostra's tentacles. The authorities' silence has started arousing suspicions.

Evenimentul Zilei Found the Following Information

Three important leaders of the Cosa Nostra criminal organization have companies in Bucharest.

Giacinto Scianna and Antonino Fontana each hold 35 percent of the stock in the Euro Agri SRL [limited responsibility company] Company. Giuseppe Mattina owns 95 percent of the INCA 2000 Prodcom SRL Company.

Italian police and media describe these three citizens as being very close to Bernardo Provenzano, the leader of the oldest mafiosa organization in Italy. The police have been searching for him for the past 35 years.

Paul Brener, a Romanian who emigrated to Italy 40 years ago, is the Italians' partner in the two companies set up in Bucharest.

In Romania, Brener had contacts with many Romanian politicians and businessmen, such as Gheorghe Fulga [Foreign Intelligence Service - SIE director], Romulus Moucha (secretary of state in the Industry Ministry), Constantin Nita [Social Democratic Party - PSD MP], Alexandru Popa (former PDSR [Social Democratic Party of Romania] prefect for Brasov County), and Anton Ciobanu, vice-president at Roman SA [truck factory].

The Storm That Followed the Disclosure of Facts

The very day that Evenimentul Zilei published information about the Italian mafia's connections in Romania, Sicilian anti-mafia authorities started the broadest operation of the past decade. It aimed at investigating more than 50 persons; they were charged with money laundering, embezzlement, utilization of funds of illicit origin, and illegal transfer of valuable goods.

The same day, the Italian police's representatives, alongside Interpol officers and Romanian policemen, conducted house searches at the Romanian residences of Paul Brener's associates.

Seven companies out of the 18 suspected of having had connections with the Italian mafiosi are the subject of investigations.

The Romanian authorities did not say anything about any alleged intention to extend the investigation to people listed as having connections with Paul Brener.

Romanian Police Confirm That the Mafia Has Laundered Money Obtained From Drugs

Yesterday afternoon, General Mihai Stoica, head of the Directorate in charge of Fighting Against Organized Crime and Drug Trafficking [DGCCOA] held an ad-hoc news conference. He tried to lift the first veil that has covered the most extended anti-Mafia operation in Romania (it is being carried out jointly with Italian experts). Two days ago, Evenimentul Zilei was the first daily to report it. General Stoica told the media that beginning 29 January, more than 40 DGCCOA officers, together with Italian officers Eros Cococetta and Federico Romi (from the Anti-Mafia Investigations Directorate), have conducted reviews of 18 Romanian companies, grounded on a rogatory commission. Italian citizen Alabiso Rocco was the companies' owner. An investigation of him is currently ongoing in Italy. He is charged with laundering funds obtained from drug trafficking.

General Stoica said that six of the aforementioned companies are not listed to carry out operations in the Trade Register. At another six companies, mainly those where Rocco and his close collaborators are associate partners, Romanian police took documents on the activity that has recently been carried out and data about the companies' cash flows. They took action on the grounds of a warrant issued by prosecutor George Balan at the Prosecuting Magistracy with the Supreme Court of Justice. They acted with the two Italian policemen and representatives of the Central Financial Oversight Body in Bucharest. General Stoica kept saying that in the file, related to Alabiso Rocco and the others, the bottom line is, "The drug trafficking crimes were committed in Italy. The final act of the operation took place in Romania, namely the money laundering." General Stoica also mentioned that Rocco is suspected of having been an associate of an important Italian mafiosa family.

Paulo Sartori, Interpol Officer in Romania: "Brener Is the Connection Between the Italian Mafiosi and the Romanian Associates"

Yesterday, Paulo Sartori, Interpol liaison officer in Romania, granted an interview to the BBC. During that interview he confirmed that several Romanian companies are being investigated for alleged connections with the Italian mafia.

[Paulo Sartori] The investigation conducted in Romania deals with almost 20 companies with both Italian and Romanian associates. This Paul Brener is the go-between. He is a former Romanian citizen who also has Italian citizenship. He has lived for many years in Italy. He is the connection between the Italian mafiosi and the Romanian associates.

[Unidentified reporter] What do these companies do in fact, and what exactly are they being charged with?

[Sartori] They are charged with money laundering. The charge is that in Romania they laundered money they had earned illicitly in Italy. They brought the money to Romania, where they made legal investments, but this is money [brought from Italy].

[Unidentified reporter] How many persons in Romania are being investigated, and are there any Romanian citizens among them?

[Sartori] Romanian citizens are also among those being investigated in these companies. The final number of Romanian and Italian citizens totals almost 50 persons. However, this number keeps increasing by the hour, as we are checking the deeds registered with the Trade Register and finding out who are the associates.

[Unidentified reporter] Were the companies that have been investigated today closed down?

[Sartori] All documents have been taken over today. Our colleagues in the Romanian police are to conduct an investigation on them, alongside people in the Romanian police, economic police, Prosecuting Magistracy, and the Financial Oversight Body. These companies' activities will be reviewed and monitored, to the very last details. We shall decide what to do only afterwards.

Paul Brener: "The Former Securitate Used To Take 2 Percent From the Deal"

[Diaconescu] Mr. Paul Brener, do you agree to be asked several questions, to clarify the whole issue?

[Brener] I am asking you to do it.

[Diaconescu] Before 1989, when you used to conduct deals in Romania, were you working hand in hand with the Romanian Securitate? Were you an undercover SIE agent?

[Brener] Such a thing is out of question. They used to keep me under surveillance from the moment I entered the country until I left.

[Diaconescu] However, how was it possible for you to run businesses in those times? We, young people, have learned that nothing could be done without the former Securitate, without Ceausescu [late communist president].

[Brener] No. They used to take only some percentage from the concluded deals. They used to take 2 percent.

[Diaconescu] Was this 2 percent given with legal deeds, or was it some kind of bribe?

[Brener] The percentage was paid at the Romanian Trade Bank.

[Diaconescu] Who was the precise recipient, the former Securitate, or...[ellipses as published].

[Brener] No. It was a certain bank account number where you had to deposit the money. If you want, when I come to Romania I shall also give you the number of the bank account, if you are interested in it.

[Diaconescu] I would like to know it; however, was this nobody's bank account, an anonymous account?

[Brener] It had only numbers.

[Diaconescu] Only figures and nothing else. Did you deposit any nice sums in it? How much money did you pay into that account?

[Brener] I can't remember for sure, because it all happened so many years ago. We are talking about facts that started some time in the 1980s, in 1983, until now.

[Diaconescu] I asked you this because we, after 1989, did not find anything. We did not find any bank account; there was no money anywhere.

[Brener] I know this, but I am not the one to be blamed for it.

[Above statement made at OTV - Oglinda, private television station]

Ion Iliescu: "I Don't Remember Having Met Him"

Ion Iliescu is not so pleased with some of the things exposed by the media. The President said, "The media is embarking upon new provocations, completely invented issues." The head of state did not want to comment on the fact that Brener had allegedly acted as a go-between for him, in setting up meetings with Italian businessmen, and that he had even translated for him. "I am fed up with such problems, with such dirt and miserable things. However, I deal with them the way you know." The Romanian President contradicts Paul Brener. He said he does not remember having ever met him. He termed his alleged relationship with this controversial businessman as being a provocation. When our daily asked him to comment on Brener's statements, about them allegedly being old acquaintances, Ion Iliescu said, "I saw this provocation in Evenimentul Zilei, where this dirt has been published. Unfortunately, I don't remember having met Mr. Brener."

Brener: "I Met With Iliescu After He Came Back From the USSR"

[Diaconescu] Since when have you known the Romanian President, Mr. Ion Iliescu?

[Brener] Well, I met Ion Iliescu for the first time when he was introduced as a candidate-legislator. He was young and handsome. He had just come back from the USSR. I was at the Education Ministry and I had to organize a meeting on behalf of the students, which were to
analyze his request to run in elections as an MP.

[Diaconescu] Have you had good relationships all along?

[Brener] No. We last saw each other in 1995, when we ran some operations with the company that was carrying out business through satellite transmissions. This deal was not concluded because the Romanian side preferred to work with IBM.

[Diaconescu] Can you tell us about the circumstances when you met Mr. Fulga?

[Brener] I met Mr. Fulga when he was the Brasov County's prefect. A transaction was being carried out at Poiana Brasov [mountain ski resort] at that time. He happened to come there, and we were introduced to each other on that occasion.

[Diaconescu] Similarly, you also remained one of Mr. Fulga's good friends.

[Brener] We remained good friends. Since then we have seen each other two or three other times. Once, when the President left for the United States, and then, when he came back. Mr. Fulga thanked me. He told me, "Sir, I thank you for what you did."

[Diaconescu] Did Mr. Fulga ask you to set up a meeting with Mr. Iliescu in the United States?

[Brener] No. He asked me to help the President get in touch with AT&T. He knew I represented AT&T at that time. I spoke with the people at AT&T. They paid for my plane ticket, too. I went there before President Iliescu's arrival. I also took part in the meeting that President Iliescu had with AT&T management.

[Above statement made at OTV]

Habitat SRL, the Connection Between Brener and Rocco

The most extended anti-mafia operation carried out over the past decade in Italy, under the name of "Property," has revealed 50 persons who were associated with the criminal Sicilian organization. The operation led to the arrest of some important Cosa Nostra leaders. All are being charged with money laundering, money embezzlement, utilization of funds of illicit origin, and illegal transfer of valuable goods. Brener has two associates. One is Giacinto Scianna from Bagheria (about whom we wrote more in our last issues. He is Brener's partner in "Euro Agri" SRL Company). The other is Alabiso Rocco, age 56, from Gela, and currently resides in Romania. During yesterday's operation, Scianna's company in Bagheria, the real estate company "La Pineta," was placed under sequester. The magistrates wrote in the bill of indictment that Scianna has close connections with the Cosa Nostra (mainly with Madonia and Provenzano). He "laundered" tens of billions [currency not specified] for them, by purchasing land and apartments. Alabiso Rocco is Brener's partner in the "Habitat" SRL Company. It was set up in 1994, in Bucharest. Paul Brener owns 10 percent of the company's stock and Alabiso Rocco owned 15 percent. The other stock was shared among the Italians Psaila Nunzio (25 percent), Pietradura Pironti Vicenzo Leonardo (25 percent), and Antonuccio Vicenzo (25 percent). Paul Brener said of these Italian citizens, "Nunzio Psaila had been authorized to conduct a reconstruction project in Snagov [resort outside Bucharest]. However, he failed to procure the needed money in due time. Pietradura is a commercial representative who deals with paint. Antonuccio is an architect. He is Pietradura's brother in law. Alabiso Rocco is a TIR [international road transport] truck driver. He carried commodities on the Palermo-Romania route, mainly detergents and other things."