Former Romanian presidential candidate Georgescu is being searched on suspicion of fraud

In Romania, prosecutors are searching the home of pro-Russian politician and former presidential candidate Calin Georgescu in Mogosoaia, suspected of fraud.

Digi24 writes about this.

He was stopped on the road and taken for searches on suspicion of fraud that resulted in losses of €1.1 million. In particular, he is suspected of creating a criminal group, and searches are being conducted at five addresses in Mogosoaia, Cholpan, Bufta and Bucharest.

Law enforcement officers found that two Romanians and an Italian had created a criminal group under the leadership of Georgescu in September 2021. The perpetrators posed as wealthy foreign businessmen who allegedly offered entrepreneurs large loans, but under the pretext of “financial guarantees,” demanded upfront payments.

One of the victims, counting on a loan of €6 million, transferred over €1 million to the criminal group. Later, they offered to increase the loan to €15 million and, under this pretext, encouraged him to transfer an additional €100 000.

After the searches, Georgescu is to be sent for questioning.

What are Georgescu and his associates accused of?

The indictment, which was at the disposal of the publication, contains, among other things, the following points:

• a detailed description of secret meetings and correspondence between militia members and Călin Georgescu in the critical days of December 2024, when his victory in the first round was already called suspicious, as well as after the Constitutional Courtʼs decision on December 6 to annul the elections;
• excerpts from his public statements, where he “spread false information among the general public in the form of allegations about Romania’s entry into the war between Russia and Ukraine” in order to undermine public confidence in the work of the Ministry of National Defense and sow fear about Romania’s possible active involvement in a protracted military conflict;
• a description of the active participation of Russian-linked companies in the online promotion of Georgescu;
• allegations that Romanian paramilitary groups "linked to political and military circles in Russia" were preparing in advance for possible unrest in Romania.

The prosecutorʼs office document shows that Călin Georgescu is considered the organizer of the coup, and Horașiu Potru is considered the main executor.

"The globalists have taken over Romania. If the people donʼt rise up now, we will all die. All of you, our children, all of your property will be lost. Let them come and arrest me. I say yes!" Potra said in a video message to his supporters.

“We have to go out with sticks, because that’s the only thing they understand!” he declared in another video, also recorded in Dubai while waiting to board a plane to Bucharest. In January 2025, Potra returned to Dubai.

These videos are in the possession of prosecutors and are attached to the case. Part of the indictment is devoted to the conspiratorsʼ connections with Russia. In particular, a number of companies are mentioned that, according to the Romanian prosecutorʼs office, were connected to the Russian authorities — MGID, AdNow, Geozo and AdsKeeper. All of them specialize in promoting advertising and content on social networks.

The document says that a similar pattern of disinformation was discovered in a number of European countries. Posts that touched on sensitive social issues were published on various social networks, mainly Facebook. From there, users were automatically redirected to Russian-linked doppelganger sites that imitated and visually resembled real platforms or state structures.

Once on these sites, users were confronted with a certain interpretation of social and public events in their countries and in Europe as a whole. According to Romanian prosecutors, these resources instilled ultra-nationalist views, thus spreading Euroscepticism and sentiments against the unified European system.

According to Romanian prosecutors, all of the companies named in the indictment are registered in different countries to ensure an international operational structure that hides their actual location in Russia. Moreover, investigators claim that the same employees, many of whom are Russian citizens, were found among the staff of these companies.

Romanian Justice Minister Radu Marinescu told Digi24 that he was waiting for the United Arab Emirates to officially notify his Romanian counterparts about the arrest. After that, the parties could begin extradition procedures. The minister said that there is no treaty on judicial cooperation between the countries. When asked whether the extradition procedure would take a long time under these conditions, he replied that he “cannot estimate its duration”.

Georgescu and 18 others are currently under "judicial control" in Romania, a mild form of house arrest. The trial of the defendants is scheduled to begin next spring.

• On May 4, 2025, a repeat first round of the presidential election in Romania took place — according to its results, the far-right Gheorghe Simion, who supported Georgescu, and the mayor of Bucharest Nicusor Dan advanced to the second round. According to the results of the second round, Dan won.

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