C.F.R. - Cluj

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C.F.R. - Cluj

Established in 1907, C.F.R. won its first national championship this summer. In a far cry from three years ago when the club had 30 fans, it is playing this year in the Champions League.

Its president is Iuliu Muresan, formerly with the Securitate, the Cluj County communist secret service.

Arpad Paszkanyi, has invested €50 million in the club since he got involved with football six years ago. Organized crime prosecutors in the “Gazeta” case, charged him with incitement to blackmail, supporting a crime group and other charges.

Paszkanyi’s companies have come under review by the National Office for Preventing and Combating Money Laundering. The General Prosecutors Office investigated him for money laundering but no charges were lodged. In 2004, his connection during the ‘90s with the “Torino” drug network that Romanian police dismembered was disclosed.

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