The Military Prosecutor’s Office announced on Thursday, July 9, that it imposed a precautionary seizure on the assets of the head of the Department for Emergency Situations (DSU), Raed Arafat, in a case concerning an emergency situations service SMURD helicopter.
The Office alleged that the aircraft was brought into Romania and used without completing the required customs formalities. According to prosecutors, the estimated damage in this case amounts to RON 4,4 million in unpaid VAT. The total sum nears RON 8 million, with penalties and interest.
The seizure targets the accounts of Raed Arafat, Airbus Romania, the insurance company Omniasig, and the other individuals under investigation in the case.
The official confirmed the asset seizure. “My accounts and my apartment have been seized. But not only mine. The measure applies to 17 individuals and three companies,” Raed Arafat said in a video response.
According to him, the seizure order “was imposed without any concrete justification.” The longtime DSU chief added that he had no legal responsibility, no authority, and no involvement in the activities that allegedly caused the claimed damage.
“This measure is even more unacceptable given that the alleged damage consists exclusively of VAT that a state institution was legally obligated to pay, and the beneficiary of that tax is also the state. The state cannot claim to be the victim of its own unfulfilled obligations,” Arafat further argued.
The investigation, opened three months ago, is related to the replacement of a SMURD helicopter that crashed in the Republic of Moldova in 2016 during a medical mission.
The insurer Omniasig proposed replacing the aircraft with a similar helicopter imported from the United Kingdom, which at the time was still an EU member state, rather than paying out the insurance claim. The helicopter was taken over by pilots from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the Customs Authority confirmed at the time that no VAT was payable because the helicopter had also been brought from within the European Union.
According to investigators, the new helicopter was taken over by the General Aviation Inspectorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (IGAv) in November 2017 from the island of Guernsey in the United Kingdom and was subsequently brought to Romania. Although Arafat was not directly involved in the transfer, prosecutors consider him an accomplice because they claim he was aware of it.
OMNIASIG announced that the precautionary measure ordered by military prosecutors consists exclusively of the seizure of a real estate property owned by the company. “We emphasize that OMNIASIG does not have the status of an investigated party in the criminal proceedings, but exclusively the status of a civilly liable party, under the conditions provided by law,” OMNIASIG officials stated.
They added that the company continues to operate under normal conditions and is fulfilling all its obligations to customers, partners, and employees without interruption, including the payment of claims and the provision of its services.
(Photo source: Inquam Photos|Octav Ganea)
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