Bankers burnt with false salary certificates in Bistrita-Nasaud

Properties of Bistrita-Nasaud are very frequently included on the auction lists for the sale of foreclosed goods of some banks and bankers now the say salary certificate counterfeiting industry has been highly developed in the county. At CEC Bank, for instance, more than half of the 37 auctions published on the bank's website are for the sale of some goods of Bistrita-Nasaud. Radu Ghetea, CEC Bank's chairman, says companies have lavishly issued salary certificates, but Bistrita-Nasaud bankers have also been less than thorough in checking clients. NBR data also point to a weak quality of loan portfolios in Bistrita-Nasaud. The county registers the highest rate of overdue payments, of 8.8%, against a national average of 4.6%. The biggest problems have been registered with RON loans, where the weight of overdue payments stands at almost 13%. Gheorghe Catana, coordinator of Bistrita-Nasaud centre of the Romanian Banking Institute, has recently stated problems have grown amid dependence on certain industrial branches, seriously hurt by the crisis. Thus, unemployment also surged and people could no longer meet payments.