SIF Oltenia head sentenced to four years in prison for defrauding BIR

Dinel Staicu, chairman of SIF Oltenia (SIF5) and manager of a 400m-euro fortune, including stakes of 6.1% in BCR and 5.5% in BRD, was sentenced by Sector 4 Court to four years in prison, a sentence he will serve, for defrauding the Banca Internaţională a Religiilor (International Bank of Religions - BIR) of around 5m euros. Staicu, who got the doctor of economics degree with a paper on underground economy, will also have to pay, together with another two of the former heads of BIR, a sum of 8m RON (1.9m euros), to which interest cumulated in the past 10 years and court expenses of 40,000 RON are added. Though the decision is not final, he may lose the position of SIF Oltenia chairman. Staicu sent a release to the Stock Exchange announcing he had filed an appeal against the decision. He could not be contacted for further comment. This is the first case where the head of a company listed on the Stock Exchange is sentenced by a court. The news did not hurt SIF Oltenia stock, which yesterday gained almost 5%.