Bucharest Court judges sentenced Dinel Staicu, SIF Oltenia director and former President of the International Bank of Religions, BIR, Ionut Popescu to 12 years of prison each for abuse in service and accessory, Romanian news agency Agerpres informs.
The two were first sentenced to four years of prison on June 16, 2010 but now the Bucharest Court increased their time as the appeal was judged. The decision is not final and can be appealed.
Ionut Popescu, using his position as President of the bank approved, by breaching banking norms, loans and credits of over 80 billion old lei to 11 commercial companies controlled by Dinel Staicu. Prosecutors claim that the prejudice to the bank is about 187 billion old lei.
