President's brother to remain in custody

The Court of Appeals of Bucharest rejected an appeal of Mircea Basescu on Friday, and ordered him to remain in custody up to 30 days. The ruling is final.

Mircea Basescu is the brother of Romanian President Traian Basescu; he is being accused by the National Anti-corruption Directorate of influence peddling.

Marian Capatana, the intermediary of the money exchanged between Mircea Basescu and Bercea Mondial in the case, is also to remain in custody.

The two have been in police custody since June 20, following a decision made by the Bucharest Tribunal.

On June 20, the Bucharest Tribunal decided to apprehend Mircea Basescu, upon the request of DNA prosecutors. The decision was not final.

The court also issued an arrest warrant on Marian Capatana, the intermediary of the money taken by Mircea Basescu from the family of interloper Sandu Anghel, aka Bercea Mondial.

According to DNA, between February 20, 2011 and February 22, 2012, Mircea Basescu received the amount 250,000 euros from denouncer Florin Anghel through the agency of Marian Capatana in exchange for his promised interceding with the magistrates who handled the case where Sandu Anghel — the father of the denouncer, was being tried for attempted murder, in order to obtain a favorable judgment, consisting of either a milder sentence or even the release of the defendant.AGERPRES