EPPO Chief Prosecutor Favorite Attends Court Following Subpoena

The former chief prosecutor of the country’s National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) will be interviewed in connection to a case where she is accused of abuse of office and perjury, regarding the repatriation of a fugitive businessman in 2011.

She previously accused the action of being an attempt to derail her bid for EPPO leadership, as she opens a shortlist of three preferred candidates for the role.

Kovesi arrived at the SIIJ headquarters half an hour earlier than scheduled and was greeted by several anti-government protesters, who voiced their support for the prosecutor.

The magistrate said on Wednesday that the court order was issued after she informed the Supreme Court about the date on which she was initially supposed to attend a European Parliament hearing for the EPPO office.

Magistrate investigation section prosecutor Adina Florea, who is handling the case, confirmed on Thursday that the subpoena was issued in regards to charges pressed by fugitive businessman Sebastian Ghita, who accused Kovesi last year of requesting him to pay for a flight used to repatriate another convicted businessman, Nicolae Popa, from Indonesia in 2011.