“The Carpathian Cartel”. The secret recipe behind an influential liberal’s impressive fortune – Recorder Investigation

A new Recorder journalistic investigation reveals the impressive wealth of liberal mayor Vlad Oprea, who has ruled Sinaia for 20 years, his local interloper Beniamin Gonț and liberal leaders, a story whose ramifications stretch beyond the country’s borders to western Europe.

Gonț, initially described as the owner of a castle in France, turned out to be just a pawn in the game of Oprea, the local mayor. The latter appears to control business through Gonț, using his connections and influence to expand his real estate empire.

But the investigation does not stop there. Their findings show that the mayor’s mother, through the company Privacons SRL, received considerable sums from the businessmen who had contracts with the mayor’s office led by Oprea. Thus, a picture emerges of business relationships and political connections that lead to the top of politics.

The video material also presents the testimony of a character who was part of the circle of close friends of the mayor of Sinaia. He tells how he participated in the rigging of tenders and how he was proposed to take on his name businesses that actually belonged to Vlad Oprea.

Several businesses positioned in key points of the resort are deeded by Beniamin Gonț, the main interface of the mayor, or by his brothers. Also, several relatives of Beniamin Gonț or Mayor Oprea hold important positions in the local administration.

Recently, the mayor Oprea built a huge villa, about a thousand square meters, right in the heart of the Sinaia resort, in an area considered an architectural reserve, near emblematic buildings such as the Sinaia Casino, the Palace hotel and the Sinaia Monastery. The house belongs in documents to the company Privacons, owned by the mayor’s mother, but it is lived in by Vlad Oprea.

Targeted, over time, by several denunciations and criminal investigations, Vlad Oprea escaped the problems with the law each time.

Oprea seems to have a strong political shield. His friends at the top of the National Liberal Party (PNL), including Lucian Bode and Rareș Bogdan, publicly supported his activity and even participated in events with him. Even the president Klaus Iohannis praised his activity.

Vlad Oprea facilitated the construction of a holiday villa in Sinaia for Lucian Bode, named after the PNL leader’s son. The land on which this construction was built was bought by Lucian Bode from the mayor’s sister Oprea, at a price far below that of the area.

Mayor Vlad Oprea refused any dialogue with the Recorder.