Romanian Police: No Information on Reports about Former Constanta Mayor’s Escape

In a statement, the institution said that it did not receive any notification on the matter.

This comes after TV station Romania TV presented a report on Friday evening, according to which Mazare escaped the prison where he was being held in Madagascar.

The former mayor is scheduled to be repatriated with a police escort on Monday, after authorities in Madagascar accepted Romania’s extradition request earlier this week.

Romania’s Supreme Court handed the former mayor a nine-year prison sentence in a final decision issued in February, for his role in the illegal retrocession of several beach properties in the city, with total damages estimated at EUR114 million.

Radu Mazare was also recently sentenced to another nine years and ten months in prison for receiving bribes in exchange for assigning city sanitation contracts to a specific company. The decision in that case is not final and can be appealed.