Three Placed Under Preventive Arrest In Romanian Human Egg Trafficking Case

Thus, the Bucharest Court judges decided to issue preventive arrest warrants against the chief of the Sabyc clinic, Harry Mironescu, his son Yair Miron and against Cecilia Borza, under charges of conspiring to commit crimes and organizing human origin cells traffic with the purpose of obtaining material gains.

The three filed for appeal against the decision.

Romanian organized crime prosecutors are investigating members of a network who allegedly brought couples who couldn’t have children to Romania and would then get in touch with people who donate egg cells in exchange for money.

The special unit of the gendarmerie performed four raids in Bucharest and in Ilfov county, southern Romania. They seized documents, computers and EUR200,000, which was paid by Israeli women who came to the private clinic for in vitro fertilization, legal sources said.

Three persons were arrested and two others were banned from leaving the country Sunday night after the Special Unit of Romania’s Gendarmerie brought in 28 people for questioning in the human egg trafficking case in Bucharest and Ilfov county.

People close to the investigation said Israeli citizens were also involved in the network.

The doctor is an Israeli woman with Polish citizenship, the sources said.

In 2005, another clinic, called Global Art, was involved in a similar scandal, but this time it exported human egg cells, while Sabyc brings in foreigners for insemination.

At that time, British couples aged between 30 and 50 resorted to the fertilization procedures of Global Art in Bucharest through a London clinic, which became subject of inquiry by the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority in the United Kingdom.

The procedure was illegal in Romania, and prosecutors soon became interested in the case.

The human egg trafficking case was examined by the European Commission too, who demanded all member states to investigate stem cells trade, protecting vulnerable witnesses.

“It seems that this market has developed very much, and the European Union must identify protective measures,” MEP Jean Lambert said at that time.

The 2005 inquiry never came to an end, with only a few scandals in the media which lasted for about a month, experts said.

The Doctors College in Bucharest has taken notice on Monday on the activity of the doctors working in the Sabyc clinic.

 

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