BT Board Chairman charged with stock market manipulation

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of Banca Transilvania, Horia Ciorcila, and three other bankers have been referred to court on charges of bank stock manipulation on the stock exchange generating almost RON 200,000 in proceeds, Mediafax informs. The Prosecutors working for the Cluj Field Service of the Organised Crime and Terrorism Directorate (DIICOT) have referred the following suspects to court: Horia Ciorcila, Chairman of BT Board, Claudiu Eugen Iuliu Silaghi, ex Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors, Giorgios Christofourou, CEO of Bank of Cyprus - Romanian subsidiary, Anastasios Isaakidis, Bank of Cyprus employee, Mirela Silaghi, Dorina Marioara Cojocaru, Sergiu Dan Dascal and Radu Codrut Jurcovan, all accused with stock exchange manipulation under incidence of Law no. 297 and money laundering under Law no. 656.

Banca Transilvania (BT) shares were suspended from trading on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) once the information had become public. DIICOT prosecutors distressed movable and immovable property worth EUR 13.5 M in the case. Central Bank governor's adviser Adrian Vasilescu says people mentioned in DIICOT's release should be given the benefit of doubt.

"The BT Board of Administrators is not aware of any of its members engaging in any malevolent action and trusts their moral and professional probity," reads a press release by the credit institution. (…) "Referring to these accusations, we make the point that Transilvania Bank learned on December 16, 2009 that the Bank of Cyprus bought TLV shares accounting for 9.7 per cent of the share capital," the release also mentions, adding that Horia Ciorcila is a pivotal part of the success story of Transilvania Bank, given his contribution over the past ten years in creating a Romanian financial institution with a solid reputation.

The bank also states that these aspects are exclusively related to capital market transactions and don't interfere in any way with the normal activity of the credit institution, and it will cooperate with authorities towards this case being solved quickly and transparently.

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