Ionuț Mircea Costea, brother-in-law to former presidential candidate and NATO second in command Mircea Geoană, was handed over to Romanian authorities on Tuesday, June 24, after being extradited by Turkey.
Costea was the director of Romania’s Eximbank and is the brother of Mircea Geoană’s wife. He has a six-year prison sentence for bribery.
He “is being brought to national territory by officers of the Romanian Police and will be incarcerated in a unit under the authority of the National Administration of Penitentiaries,” the Ministry of Justice stated on Tuesday morning on in a post on Facebook.
On May 26, 2023, Ionuț Mircea Costea was sentenced by the High Court of Cassation and Justice to six years in prison, after previously receiving seven years during the trial, in the corruption case regarding the rehabilitation of several railway sections. Costea was also ordered to pay RON 3.1 million (EUR 614,000) and EUR 1.9 million.
Also convicted to seven years and four months in prison in the same case was former finance minister Sebastian Vlădescu, while former member of parliament Cristian Boureanu was acquitted.
While Sebastian Vlădescu turned himself in to the Police and was taken to prison, Mircea Costea was put on the wanted list by the Police. At that time, his brother-in-law, Mircea Geoană, who was then Deputy Secretary General of NATO, said that justice must be served without exception.
“Each of us is responsible for the decisions we make. Mihaela and I will continue to stand by our grandchildren and offer them the support they need during these hard times,” Mircea Geoană said, according to HotNews.ro.
After his conviction, Costea was put on an international wanted list in mid-2023. He was then located in Turkey in January, and on January 26, the Bucharest Tribunal decided that the conditions for requesting extradition were met.
At the time, justice minister Alina Gorghiu said that as soon as the Bucharest Tribunal’s ruling was communicated, the Ministry of Justice would file the extradition request for the former Eximbank president. Costea was detained by Turkish police in February, the following month.
(Photo source: Inquam Photos | Octav Ganea)
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