In April 2005, the in office executive board of PHOENIX Corporation decided to sell a hostel property of the corporation, situated in Baia Mare, no. 46 A Horea Street.The hostel in question had 104 rooms; the tenants were employees of the Phoenix Corporation,  former (terminated) employees and other people in the city, as well.
	
The executive board of PHOENIX Corporation and LIVIU CHIRA, Self-Employed Person, signed a purchase agreement whose object was the above-mentioned hostel, for the amount of 150000 EUR (in Romanian currency). Mind you, the agreement was signed by two private entities who, we suppose, were not interested in paying the actual notary fees, since a one-bedroom apartment cost around 1.400 EUR whereas an 18 sq m garage was sold for anything between 6.000 and 8.500 EUR on the Baia Mare free market. 

After more than one year after the above-mentioned agreement was signed, protest rallies started in front of the Baia Mare City Hall, attended by tens of tenants living in the hostel situated at no. 46 A Horea St. They protested against being evicted from the building by the new owner, Liviu Chira, Self-Employed Person. Under pressure, the Local
Council of the Municipality of Baia Mare appointed a committee for the purpose of negotiating with the owner the purchase of the hostel, in order to protect the tenants protesting in front of the Baia Mare City Hall and of the Local Council office.

The owner accepted to sell from the start and asked for 1.000.000 EUR. Following several negotiation rounds, the owner accepted to sell the building for the total amount of 544.500 EUR.
 
To this effect, the Local Council of the Municipality of Baia Mare (and not the mayor) accepted the final price as 544.500 EUR and issued the Local Council Resolution no.293/June 2006. The legal procedures were completed and the installment payment conditions to be made until the end of 2006 were agreed on with the seller. At that time, a local councillor named Vasile Vlaşin signed an „in rem” penal complaint and filed it to the National Anticorruption Directorate (N.A.D.). This complaint claimed that abuse had taken place, despite the fact that he was a member of the Local Council, which had approved the purchase.

N.A.D initiated the investigation of the case and filed it under the charge of abuse of authority, requiring the relocation of the trial from Baia Mare, under the reason of possible mayor influence of local magistrates, request that was rejected by the Supreme Court of Justice . 
After judging the case at Baia Mare’s Law Court and then at Maramureş County Court, both instances passed against the N.A.D’ s proposal and acquitted  the mayor Cristian Anghel  of the accusation brought and suspended the distraint upon property ( buildings and assets thereof) disposed by the N.A.D’s  public prosecutors.  

In order to better understand the situation and the arguments which underlined the decisions taken by the instances mentioned above, we specify that the file contains two expert assessments of the social hostel situated on 46 A Horea street, made by authorised evaluators. Both experts’ reports estimated the building to be worth at least 600.000, which exceeded the price negotiated and approved by the Local Council by the Resolution no. 293/2006. 

Without presenting/introducing any other new element or argument to the case, N.D.A’s prosecutors filed an appeal against the decision of Maramureş District Court. The Cluj Court of Appeal made by a three judge-panel, decided to convict the mayor of the Baia Mare municipality to 2 years and six months in prison and also to the retrieval of the false prejudice of 394.500 euro calculated and proposed by the prosecutors. We want to specify that the decision relied on precisely the same case and documents based of which two instances of equally trained judges have established the innocence of the  mayor of Baia Mare municipality.

Romania is a member of the European Union and of NATO...........