The Senators of the Budget-Finance and Judicial Committees will have to issue a resolution next Wednesday, to rule on the legality of the control at the five financial investment companies (SIF), ordered by the Court of Accounts. The Senators heard the SIF chairmen and of the Court chairman, Dan Drosu Saguna on Wednesday.
The SIF chairmen went to the Senate challenging the Court's right to control private companies. They argued the SIFs are 100% private-held, while the Court of Accounts "as everywhere in the world, has to check the State properties and the state budget revenues, instead of the private funds," Theodor Mihaiescu, Muntenia Invest manager said. The SIF chairmen say the press reports about this control have impacted on the SIF prices on the Stock Exchange.
The shares have lost nearly 30% since the scandal broke out.
The hearings became tense after the shocking statement of SIF Transilvania's chairman Mihai Fercala.
"The chairmen of the financial investment companies upset certain Mafia groups in Romania," Fercala said. He also told the Senators he had to cope with all sorts of pressures.
"In my strictly personal opinion, the SIF chairmen are a pain to the Mafia groups in Romania," Mihai Fercala said during the hearings in the Senate. He explained there were certain people going to the SIF managers and "asking them to sell particular shares and dictating the price."
"All the self-serving slickers using state bodies speculate and bring the price down. Huge transactions have been made; shares have been repurchased at very small prices. Who stands to gain from that?" Fercala asked the senators.
The representatives of SIF Banat-Crisana, SIF Muntenia, SIF Moldova and SIF Oltenia in their turn requested Parliament to put an end to the investigation of their companies by the Court of Accounts.
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