Viorel Hrebenciuc

The Romanian Agency for Fiscal Administration, ANAF, is to verify whether there are differences between the money declared by the 50 HSBC clients and the amounts found in their accounts in Switzerland, according to media reports on Monday.

Any unreported income will be taxed at 16 per cent, ANAF officials were quoted as saying by Digi24 television. 

Amid the continuing fall out over the HSBC scandal, a journalistic project in Romania has named a key figure in the ruling party as one of those who held secret accounts in the Swiss branch of the British bank.

The High Court of Cassation and Justice on Friday morning decided that Andrei Hrebenciuc, the son of Social Democrat deputy Viorel Hrebenciuc be remanded in custody for 30 days in a criminal file involving the restitution of forests and lands.

A custody warrant was also served to Gheorghe Paltin Sturdza, the beneficiary of such illegal restitution.

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Deputy Viorel Hrebenciuc, by resigning from Parliament has made a move by which he protects the Social Democrat Party (PSD) and the party's candidate in the presidential elections from the electoral attacks, Prime Minister Victor Ponta said on Tuesday.

Ponta is running for president of Romania in Nov. 2-16 polls under the banner of his Social Democrat Party.

The National Anti-corruption Directorate (DNA) prosecutors have started criminal proceedings against MP Viorel Hrebenciuc, a member in the ruling Social Democrat Party's (PSD) National Executive Committee, whom they charge with influence peddling or abuse of authority with a view to getting money or other undue assets for himself or for other persons.

Anticorruption prosecutors have indicted Narcisa Iorga, a member of the National Audiovisual Council (CNA, broadcast media supervising authority) for influence peddling or abuse of authority for personal or third party profits, in a case also involving Viorel Hrebenciuc, a parliament member of the Social Democratic Party.