Romanian Court Of Appeals Denies Release From Custody To Football Financer, Businessman

Penescu and Facaleata both appealed against the arrest ruling and claimed innocence.

Penescu said that he was asked about his involvement in the corruption case against referees Ionica Serea and Marius Martis upon his first arrest in 2009, but that he doesn’t understand why the case has not been settled yet. Penescu claimed he was not referring to bribe money in the recorded phone conversation with Facaleata brought as eveidence against him by prosecutors.

After the two-hour hearing, Penescu and Facaleata were escorted into custody.

The court’s decision cannot be appealed.

Penescu and Facaleata were arrested Tuesday for 29 days by magistrates from the Court of Arges County. They are both involved in the case against referee Marius Martis and former referee Ionica Serea, who are also in custody at the moment.

According to anticorruption prosecutors, Penescu is being charged with bribe giving, and Facaleata is accused of acting as accessory to bribe taking.

A decree issued by the National Anticorruption Department says that on March 18, 2009, Serea received $21,000 from Penescu through Martis and Facaleata. In exchange for the money, Serea was supposed to find in favor of Penescu’s team in a match against FC Steaua that he refereed in March last year.

On May 7, Penescu and Facaleata were heard by anticorruption prosecutors in the same case.

In late April, the two referees were arrested for 29 days, as Serea is probed for bribe taking and Martis for accessory to bribe taking and offering.

On April 16, Penescu was arrested in the „Football Bribery” case, on charges of influence peddling, bribe offering and setting up an organized crime group. He was sent to court under arrest, together with Facaleata and the former Central Referee Commission president, Gheorghe Constantin.

According to investigators, the organized crime group also included high-ranking officials of the Romanian Football Federation, several referees, the former president of FC Arges, and others. Investigators said that between 2006 and April 2009, the group committed several serious corruption crimes, in order to obtain financial or material benefits.