The Neamt Court ruled in the case of the acquisition of the tomograph from the Piatra Neamt Emergency County Hospital

After several postponements, the magistrates of the Neamț Court ruled in the process regarding the purchase of the tomograph from the Piatra Neamț County Emergency Hospital. All five defendants were given life sentences, totaling 27 years in prison. The former manager of the medical unit, Dr. Ioan Lazăr, was found guilty of abuse of office if the public official obtained an undue benefit for himself or another, and was sentenced to 6 years in prison.

For the same deed, the head of the Hospital Procurement Service, Oana-Dana Murariu, received 5 years in prison. Three company administrators, Mihuțoiu Cristian, Pătrașcu Alin Mircea and Tudor Florin Gheorghe, were accused by DNA prosecutors of complicity in abuse of office if the civil servant obtained an undue benefit for himself or for another. The judges imposed 5-year sentences for Mihuțoiu and Pătrașcu, and Tudor has to serve 6 years in prison.

Jointly, all five must pay the Piatra Neamț County Emergency Hospital the sum of 2,194,172 lei, the difference between the purchase price of the tomograph and the actual value. The decision of the trial court is not final and may be appealed.

DNA prosecutors completed the prosecution and sent the case to court in early August 2018, since then there have been dozens of deadlines until the trial court’s decision. According to the indictment, the acts took place between 2013 and 2015 and concerned the tender for the purchase of a CT scanner at the largest hospital unit in Neamț County. DNA prosecutors established that the auction was organized in such a way that only one bidder participated, and the value was unjustified. The tomograph was purchased on June 3, 2015 at a value of 4.89 million lei, including VAT, in this way the hospital was damaged by approximately 2.2 million lei (details here).

(GS)