Romanian prosecutors indict former presidential frontrunner on fraud charges

Romanian prosecutors said on Thursday ​they had indicted Calin ​Georgescu, the pro-Russian former ‌frontrunner in ​the country's 2024 canceled presidential election, on charges of orchestrating a €1.1 million ($1.2 million) fraud scheme. Prosecutors ‌said Georgescu managed an organized crime group that prompted a Romanian businessman to give them €1.1 million by making him believe they could help ‌him get a credit line of up to €15 million from a ‌foreign financial institution.

Georgescu has been in pretrial detention since late September. In posts on Georgescu's Facebook account, his wife, Cristela Georgescu, denied the charges and ⁠said ​they were politically motivated. Romania ⁠canceled its presidential election in December 2024 on account of suspected Russian interference ⁠in favour of Georgescu, a strong critic of NATO, Brussels and Western ​support for Ukraine. Moscow denied the accusations of meddling in the election.

The ⁠ballot was re-run in May 2025, and pro-European Nicusor Dan won it to ⁠become ​president. Georgescu, who was banned from running again but remains popular, is already on trial in two separate cases, one ⁠on charges of attempting to disrupt national security after the election was canceled, ⁠the other ⁠on charges of promoting Romania's 1930s fascist leaders, which is illegal. He has denied wrongdoing in both cases.

($1 = ‌0.9027 ‌euros)