Călin Georgescu freed from detention and placed under judicial control

Romania’s former presidential candidate Călin Georgescu has been released from detention after the Bucharest tribunal placed him under judicial control in a case involving an alleged €1.1 million fraud and the formation of an organised criminal group.

The court also ordered judicial control for businessman Ionel Rusen, who is accused in the same case investigated by Romania’s Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT). The decision is not final but is enforceable, allowing Georgescu to leave detention.

Georgescu left the courthouse to cheers from around 300 supporters, who shouted “Freedom!”, “Călin Georgescu, president!” and “Călin, the people are with you”.

“The world is small, God is great,” Georgescu told reporters outside the courthouse. Flanked by bodyguards, he stopped to greet the crowd, raising his hands as supporters applauded.

Georgescu faces several restrictions

Under the judicial control measure, Georgescu will have to comply with a number of restrictions imposed by the court. He had previously been placed under judicial control between February 2025 and April 2026 in a separate case in which he is accused of offences against Romania’s constitutional order.

Prosecutors had argued there was a flight risk. Their request cited intercepted conversations in which Georgescu and Rusen discussed seeking political asylum in Italy, buying a €1.2 million villa in Tuscany and bringing family members and associates once an earlier judicial-control measure was lifted. Those talks form part of the same investigation. All allegations remain unproven; no convictions have been issued.

Georgescu was detained on Monday and spent the night at the Central Arrest facility of the Bucharest Police before being brought to court on Tuesday. His first statement after the ruling was: “Chess is played until the king falls.”

Călin Georgescu detained in €1.1 million fraud probe

DIICOT accuses Georgescu of defrauding a businessman of around €1.1 million, with prosecutors alleging that approximately €100,000 of the money was used to finance his presidential campaign.

Georgescu was detained on Monday morning while on his way to a swimming pool in Otopeni and was subsequently taken to his villa in Mogoșoaia, where investigators carried out searches as part of the fraud investigation.

The investigation began following a criminal complaint filed by Buzău businessman Răzvan Leu, who says he lost €1.1 million. According to the case file, Georgescu allegedly proposed a business involving precious-metal transactions.

The project required a €6 million credit line, and Georgescu reportedly recommended that Leu contact Ionel Rusen, whom he described as a trustworthy person. Rusen allegedly introduced Leu to Italian citizen Massimiliano Arena, who was presented as a representative of a Swiss bank.

To secure the loan, Leu was allegedly asked to pay a €1 million guarantee, followed by another €100,000, with the promise that the credit line could subsequently be increased to €15 million. The loan was never granted. Leu then requested the return of the €1.1 million he had paid, but prosecutors say he did not recover the money.

What investigators found during the searches

Among the items investigators found at Georgescu’s villa in Mogoșoaia was a “diplomatic” identity card bearing his name and apparently issued in the name of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.

The document is entitled “DIPLOMATIC ID – Order of Malta, Sovereign Order Hospitalliers of Saint John of Jerusalem” and bears Georgescu’s photograph and the designation “senator”. The Embassy of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta in Romania subsequently said that it had not issued any document in Georgescu’s name.

Investigators also found a signal-jamming device in Georgescu’s car, which prosecutors say could have prevented conversations from being recorded. According to judicial sources cited by HotNews, the device was a jammer used to block the interception or recording of conversations.

After several hours of searches, masked officers left Georgescu’s villa carrying bags filled with documents.

Businessman says he trusted Georgescu

Răzvan Leu confirmed that he was the person who filed the criminal complaint against Georgescu. “I confirm that I am the person who filed, in January 2024, the criminal complaint underlying the file handled by DIICOT. I did so for one reason: we lost more than one million euros, money earned through work, following a promise of financing that never materialised,” Leu said in a statement on Monday.

He said he had met Georgescu in 2021 and had trusted his plans. “I had full confidence in Călin Georgescu and what he told me. Unfortunately, it all turned out to be a scam. I was defrauded of €1.1 million, which I paid as an advance for a €6 million foreign loan, a credit line intended for business investments,” Leu said.

According to the businessman, the loan was supposed to be provided by a financial company recommended and guaranteed by Georgescu and his business partners.

Georgescu faces two other criminal cases

The DIICOT investigation is the third criminal case involving Georgescu. In July 2025, he was sent to trial for the first time, accused of publicly promoting the cult of people convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, as well as publicly promoting fascist, Legionary, racist or xenophobic ideas, concepts or doctrines, allegedly on a continuous basis. The case is currently pending before the Bucharest District 1 Court.

On 3 April, Georgescu was finally released from judicial control in that case, more than a year after the preventive measure was imposed, after the Bucharest Tribunal upheld his appeal and partially overturned a decision by the District 1 Court to extend the measure.

In September 2025, the Prosecutor General’s Office brought a second case against Georgescu, accusing him of planning actions aimed at destabilising Romania following the Constitutional Court’s decision to annul the first round of the presidential election held in November 2024, which Georgescu had won.

The case is being heard by the Bucharest Court of Appeal. Georgescu was charged alongside former mercenary Horațiu Potra and 20 other defendants. Potra is accused of attempting to carry out actions against the constitutional order, as well as offences related to the possession and use of firearms, ammunition and explosives. The Bucharest Court of Appeal has set the next hearing for 28 September 2026.

Sources: Hotnews.ro, Segabg.com

Caption: Romanian independent politician Calin Georgescu (C), who won the first round of Romania’s annulled 2024 presidential election, leaves the Bucharest Tribunal headquarters surrounded by bodyguards and supporters, in Bucharest, Romania, 22 September 2026. Georgescu was placed under judicial control following his release from 24-hour police custody in connection with a DIICOT investigation into organized crime and an alleged 1.1 million euro fraud scheme. EPA/ROBERT GHEMENT