Romania detains former frontrunner in canceled presidential election in fraud case
A Romanian court has ordered Calin Georgescu, the former frontrunner in the country's canceled 2024 presidential election, detained for 30 days while prosecutors investigate an alleged €1.1 million fraud.
Prosecutors say Georgescu and two other suspects persuaded a Romanian businessman to give them €1.1 million by claiming they could help him secure a credit line of up to €15 million from a foreign financial institution. Georgescu denies wrongdoing.
A lower court initially placed Georgescu under judicial supervision, but prosecutors appealed. The Bucharest Court of Appeals ordered his detention on Sept. 29 in a final ruling.
Georgescu won the first round of Romania's 2024 presidential election, but the Constitutional Court later annulled the election amid allegations of Russian interference. Romanian prosecutors said Moscow sought to influence the vote through cyberattacks and online disinformation. Russia denied the allegations.
Georgescu, a critic of NATO, the EU and Western support for Ukraine, was barred from running when the election was held again in May 2025.
He is also on trial in two separate cases, including charges related to an alleged attempt to undermine national security after the election was canceled and charges of promoting Romania's fascist leaders from the 1930s. He denies wrongdoing in those cases as well.
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