Romania Media Mogul Held on Tax Dodging Charges

Adrian Sarbu, owner of the Mediafax Group, one of the largest media groups in Romania, was detained late on Monday by prosecutors for alleged involvement in a $3.4 million US tax evasion case.

Sarbu has denied wrongdoing. "The sole purpose of the case I am involved in is to destroy the media institutions I have built up over the past 25 years, which I have maintained politically independent," he said.

Investigators say Mediafax Group set up a scheme to avoid paying taxes that "included creating dummy companies in the names of people who lacked any financial means".

Mediafax Group managers were questioned and held in November on tax evasion charges. The company filed for insolvency late last year.

Sarbu previously said his company was being probed because Mediafax Group did not support Prime Minister Victor Ponta, who made a failed run for the post of President last November. Sarbu also accused Ponta's allies of wanting to buy his company.

Mediafax Group owns a news agency, several local dailies and weeklies, most of them online, but also lifestyle magazines.

One of the most powerful media businessmen in Romania, Sarbu is also the founder of MediaPro Group, which included PRO TV, Romania's largest private TV station, which is now part of CME group. He was the chairman of CME from 2009 until 2013.