Romanian Businessman Sorin Ovidiu Vantu Detained For 24 Hours In Fraud Case

People close to the matter told MEDIAFAX earlier Thursday that prosecutors questioned Vantu alongside union leader Liviu Luca, Alex Stoian and Octavian Turcan.

Vantu is accused of having helped Popa flee the country after the latter was sentenced to 15 years in prison in the case of the collapse of the National Investment Fund (FNI).

On December 2, Popa was arrested in Jakarta, Indonesia, and the Romanian Justice Ministry sent Indonesian authorities a request to extradite Popa.

Jakarta Globe reported in its online edition in February, citing the Indonesian police, that Indonesia's Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar had given local police the green light to extradite Popa, adding the procedure was pending approval from the Indonesia president.

Indonesia does not have an extradition treaty with Romania. The 1979 Extradition Law states that the requesting country must make an official extradition request to the Justice Ministry through diplomatic channels, and if no extradition treaty exists between Indonesia and the requesting country, the president can decide on the matter.

In June 2008, Ioana Maria Vlas, sentenced to 10 years in prison for fraud and abuse of office in the same case, Popa and companies SOV Invest and Gelsor were sentenced by the Bucharest Court to pay about 60,000 lei (EUR1=RON4.2821) to investors in the bankrupt fund.

More than 100,000 people lost money they had invested in FNI, and the Romanian state, which had guaranteed their investments, was forced to pay out compensation of more than EUR100 million.

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