Romanian police and prosecutors conducted more than 200 searches across the country as part of the larger Jupiter 4 operation on Tuesday, November 4. The searches concern offenses like fraud, forgery of documents, counterfeiting, tax evasion, embezzlement, misappropriation of funds, and abuse of office, among others.
“The Jupiter operation contributes to strengthening the efforts of law enforcement institutions to combat criminal activity at the national level, through coordinated and actions aimed at dismantling networks involved in illegal activities,” stated the Public Ministry.
The searches are part of the Jupiter 4 operation, which began on Monday, November 3, and included 78 home searches. As part of this, searches were also conducted at the offices of companies belonging to brothers and food industry investors Ioan and Viorel Micula, according to ProTV.
In total, prosecutors said they identified damages amounting to RON 175 million and EUR 1.6 million on Monday. Out of this sum, RON 163 million in damages result from tax evasion, which took place through “a complex mechanism” that transferred land, buildings, and so on to other commercial companies under the control of the same individuals.
The two brothers in question allegedly illegally transferred assets to prevent the recovery of a EUR 400 million debt owed to the Romanian state. This debt was established in January 2022 by the Court of Justice of the European Union, which ruled that the Romanian state illegally gave EUR 178 million to this group between 2014 and 2019 in the form of state aid. The rest consists of interest and penalties.
Beyond these findings, the Jupiter operation is also targeting crimes such as smuggling, tax evasion, embezzlement, fraud, counterfeiting, theft, threat, harassment, misleading judicial authorities, violation of the regime of weapons and ammunition, unlawful use of a firearm, poaching, qualified smuggling, and forestry crimes.
The latter received special attention from prosecutors, who are handling multiple cases targeting illegal tree cutting and timber transport without documents. According to the prosecutors, thousands of trees have been illegally cut from the Maramureș Mountains Natural Park with the alleged help of forest rangers. The damage estimated by investigators amounts to hundreds of thousands of lei.
“Within the Jupiter 4 operation, today, November 4, 2025, the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice is carrying out multiple operational actions, during which 16 home search warrants and 13 summonses are being executed, in four criminal cases concerning offenses of illegal tree cutting, theft of trees, and other related acts,” prosecutors stated in a press release.
The crimes pertain to the illegal cutting of trees in Maramureș and Bistrița-Năsăud counties. In this respect, damages amount to roughly RON 500,000.
(Photo source: Ministerul Afacerilor Interne on Facebook)
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