A former Romanian Minister of Health is accused of accepting bribes from patients and their relatives and will be heard today at the headquarters of the National Directorate for anti-corruption (DNA) in the city of Iași, reports Digi 24 TV, quoted by BTA.
Prosecutors say they have evidence that 52-year-old surgeon and former health minister Nelu Tataru received money at least 100 times. Tataru is from the National Liberal Party and was a minister in the period March-December 2020 in the second government of Ludovic Orbán. He is currently a surgeon at Dimitrie Castroianu Hospital. in the city of Hush, Vaslui County, Northeastern Romania.
Nelu Tataru is currently a member of parliament and has parliamentary immunity. According to the law, people's representatives can be investigated and charged, as well as be tried. In order for the investigators to carry out a search or to detain a member of parliament, however, permission is needed from the chamber of parliament of which the suspected member of parliament is a member. In the case of Nelu Tataru, it is the lower house of parliament – The Chamber of Deputies. For this reason, a search was made today only in the hospital where he works, Digi 24 specifies.
According to DNA prosecutors, Nelu Tataru received small sums of money from patients as well as foodstuffs such as eggs and meat. Nelu Tataru is the deputy chairman of the National Liberal Party for the North-Eastern region, and according to Digi 24, he is on the party's list for the parliamentary elections in December.