The file was registered at the Salonta Court on April 30, 2024. “No one informed me about this,” said the mayor, contacted by Jurnal Bihorean si Bihon.
ANI: the mayor signed documents for the benefit of his son
More than two years ago, in February 2022, the National Integrity Agency announced that it had notified the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice regarding the mayor of Gepiu.
“There are indications regarding the commission by Purge Ioan of the crime of using the position to favor certain persons, provided for by art. 301 of the Penal Code, since in the exercise of his duties as mayor, he signed several documents for the direct benefit of his son, with a view to the latter’s establishment of an agricultural pension”, said ANI, in a statement.
The mayor would have signed two town planning certificates and a series of documents necessary for the establishment of an agro-pension by his son, “thus generating a material benefit for the assessed person’s son”, the quoted source says. In this way, the integrity inspectors accused Ioan Purge of violating provisions of law 161/2003, according to which “mayors (…) are obliged not to issue an administrative act or not to conclude a legal act or not to issue a provision , in the exercise of the function, which produces a material benefit for himself, for his spouse or his relatives of the first degree.”
According to ANI, the mayor of Gepiu also allegedly violated a rule of the Administrative Code, according to which “the local elected official in a conflict of interest (…) has the obligation to refrain from issuing or participating in the issuance or adoption of the administrative act, from concluding or participating in the conclusion of the respective legal act, which could produce a material benefit for oneself or for: a) husband, wife or relatives or relatives up to the 2nd degree inclusive”.
Ioan Purge: “The law obliges me, as mayor, to countersign urban planning certificates”
Contacted by Jurnal Bihorean and Bihon, Mayor Ioan Purge stated that he was not informed about the criminal file being sent to the Salonta Court and specified that “I was called to the Police about three months ago, to give a statement. That’s it.”
The mayor claims that he was investigated by the integrity inspectors because he quickly released the documents requested by the local residents of the commune.
“Instead of 15 days, we released the documents in three days. Why put people on the road or keep them for a longer period, when the documents can be issued more quickly? In the case indicated by ANI, I countersigned the town planning certificates for 15 people, not just for my son. According to Law 50/1991 (regarding the authorization of construction execution – n. ed.), only the mayor can countersign such certificates”, explained Ioan Purge.
The mayor recalled that, in 2022, he challenged the assessment report of the National Integrity Agency in an administrative dispute at the Oradea Court of Appeal, asking for its cancellation. Initially, the case was suspended until the completion of the criminal trial, but ANI obtained from the High Court the continuation of the contentious trial. The next term in this file is scheduled for May 14, 2024.
Regarding the criminal case, the Salonta Court is to set the date on which it will start debating, in the preliminary chamber, the legality of the referral to the court.
