The president of Tanzania fired Interior Minister Kangi Lugola on Thursday, accusing him of mismanaging a US$453 million firefighting equipment contract,Anadolu Agency reported.

Romania’s fugitive former chief prosecutor lost on Wednesday her final appeal in a corruption case and was sentenced to four years behind bars. However, by the time the verdict was pronounced, Alina Bica, who during the process had fled to Costa Rica, was nowhere to be found. 

Romanian Border Policestated they seized on Sunday bags with 750 kilograms of cannabis with an estimated value of EUR9 millions (US$9.87 million) on the black market.

Romania's anti-corruption unit (DNA) said on Thursday that it has launched an investigation into bribery allegations against the CEO of the country’s Oracle branch who is suspected of having given IT companies discounts on products in exchange for bribes.

The Council of Europe’s legal advisors criticized last week Romania’s 2018 judicial reform saying it does not contribute to the fight against high-level corruption but may even be an obstacle.

Europol recently assisted European authorities in dismantling two organized crime groups, one smuggling migrants to the UK and the other trafficking Romanian women to France and forcing them into prostitution.

After years of corruption allegations, Liviu Dragnea, the leader of Romania’s the Social Democratic, was sentenced and jailed for three and a half years on Monday - only a day after Romanians voted for a ban on pardons for corrupt officials.

The EU’s threats to withdraw Romania’s voting rights, funding, and to block it from entering the visa-free Schengen area over the country’s addressal of corruption is “wrong” and “dangerous,” Prime Minister Viorica Dăncilă said on Wednesday.

New evidence from a tropical Brazilian getaway show that Liviu Dragnea, one of Romania’s leading politicians, has not been truthful about his relationship with the former head of a company that received millions of euros in EU construction money.

With Romania’s Social Democrats once again threatening to undermine the country’s legal system through emergency ordinance, the US and a slew of European nations issued an international warning to the country to beware its eroding rule of law.

The former head of Romania’s National Anti-corruption Directorate, Laura Kovesi, was indicted late last week on charges of abuse of office and taking bribes, and has been forbidden from speaking to the media or traveling abroad.

Prosecutors say an organized crime group tied to Liviu Dragnea, Romania’s most powerful politician, set up a cross-border fraud scheme that deprived the Romanian state of more than €1 million over a two-year period.

Authorities arrested on Wednesday 14 alleged members of a transnational gold smuggling ring in Italy, Romania and Turkey for criminal association, money laundering and trafficking stolen goods.

Unexplained financing, a rival bidder controlled by a cousin, and unpaid penalties. These are just some of the problems surrounding a bioethanol project promised by a senior Fidesz member.

Erik Bánki. (Photo: Tamás Botos, 444.hu)

The Romanian President rejected on Wednesday the government’s nominee for the new chief anti-corruption prosecutor, following speculation that she would not be hard enough on corruption.

The European Commission castigated Romania for regressing in its anti-graft reforms, but generally praised Bulgaria for meeting its commitments in two separate annual reports on the administration of justice released Tuesday. 

The European Commission urged governments on Monday not to misuse the EU data protection regulation to silence investigative journalists.

The Romanian Data Protection Authority (ANSPDCP) Thursday ordered investigative outlet RISE Project to reveal its sources for reporting on an alleged European Union (EU) fund fraud that may involve an eminent Romanian politician.

RISE Project, an award-winning investigative journalism outlet in Romania and OCCRP’s partner, was ordered Thursday by the Romanian Data Protection Authority (ANSPDCP) to reveal its sources under the threat of a fine of up to €20 million based on the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) directive 679/2016.

Romania’s influential politician Liviu Dragnea on Monday mocked investigative journalists who announced they are in possession of a suitcase of evidence allegedly proving Dragnea is linked to a company suspected of corruption and EU funds fraud.