Microsoft licensing corruption scandal

The Microsoft licensing corruption scandal is an ongoing political scandal and criminal investigation in Romania, involving large bribes paid to Romanian government members in exchange for approving increases in license fees for Microsoft products.

Nine government ministers have been charged by the National Anticorruption Directorate,[1] belonging to the Năstase, Tăriceanu and Boc Cabinets. The bribes were estimated at more than $50 million.[2]

Apart from Microsoft, this scandal involved several major multinational corporations, including Fujitsu-Siemens, IBM, Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, S&T and local software companies like SIVECO and Softwin.[3]

Persons involved in scandal

According to Gheorghe Ștefan (a.k.a. "Pinalti"), more than 100 persons are involved in the corruption scandal,[4] among them nine former ministers[5] and prominent businessmen.

Sentences

On 24 March 2016, Dorin Cocoș was sentenced to 2 years imprisonment for influence peddling and money laundering, and to an asset forfeiture of €3 million. Gabriel Sandu was sentenced to 2 years imprisonment for bribery and money laundering, and to an asset forfeiture of over €2 million. Gheorghe Ștefan was sentenced to 3 years imprisonment for influence peddling and to an asset forfeiture of €3 million. Dumitru Nicolae was convicted to 1 and a half years suspended sentence, €1 million forfeiture and 90 days community service.[6][7] The sentences are not final and can be appealed.

See also

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, March 24, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.