8 April 2002. Thanks to SA.

"FBIS" is the CIA Foreign Broadcast Information Service.

Title: Romanian Daily Publishes List of Securitate Agents Working in Intelligence 

Document Number: FBIS-EEU-2002-0405
Document Type: Daily Report
Document Title: FBIS Translated Text
Document Region: East Europe
Document Date: 28 Mar 2002
Division: Balkan States
Subdivision: Romania
Sourceline: EUP20020405000259 Bucharest Ziua in Romanian 28 Mar 02 pp
I-IV of supplement
AFS Number: EUP20020405000259
Citysource: Bucharest Ziua
Language: Romanian
N/A

Subslug: "Armageddon 7" report: "Armageddon of Securitate People"

[Romanian text: http://www.ziua.ro/search.php?class=2002&id=16240&kword=Securitate&style=3 ]

[FBIS Translated Text]    

We have received yet another cyber-bomb in the editorial office e-mails. It is the Armageddon 7 report. This time, the text refers to Securitate officers who continued to hold key posts in the intelligence services established by democratic regimes after 1989. The moment chosen to propagate in the media the information included in the appendix to this new Armageddon (which includes approximately 1,600 names) is delicate. The injection of this information is happening at the  very time that there is increasingly intense talks about Romania joining NATO and about the fact that it is just a matter of hours before it becomes public that -- willy-nilly -- Romania will be taken into NATO, along with Bulgaria. It is already known that one of the primary requirements of the NATO leaders is that no more "dinosaurs" from the former Securitate should remain in the structures of the Romanian intelligence services. The source of Armageddon 7 is equally unknown to us. Our editorial office got it from the Press Monitoring Agency, which says that, as far as it is concerned, it just got it like you catch a ball when playing sports. Perhaps General Zaharia Toma [of the Interior Ministry, MI] knows more about this, or perhaps it is some secret service chief who has started his own fight with the parallel services. When we asked about Armageddon 7, the Romanian Intelligence Service [SRI] answered us placidly: "No comment" [preceding two words published in English]. This makes room for the interpretation that anything is possible. We decided to publish the Armageddon 2 report, owing to the gratuitous reaction of the prime minister, but this time we are publishing the entire text of this new Armageddon precisely owing to the opacity of the SRI. We know that the publication of this new Armageddon will start a new storm, an even bigger one than that started by Armageddon 2. However, we hope that, by sending this text to the printing press, we will no longer have a diversion meant to hide the truth, that, instead of witnessing other arrests "in the street" or new abuses by the Prosecuting Magistracy, we will get concrete answers as to whether the information included in this electronic document is real or not. We also mention that there are references to Ziua in the appendix to Armageddon 7 -- namely to revelations published by our daily. They are partly true. Some of these are known facts. Equally, as far as we are concerned, we believe that the information in this Armageddon may be "partly" true, because we have found enough mistakes. This is precisely why the public needs to find out about this list. If officials chose to say "no comment," we prefer to go to the public to find out the truth. The names in this list are not names of ghosts. The persons in question have acquaintances, neighbors, and so forth, who can deny or confirm the facts, over the head of the SRI. We are inviting them to the debate.

   [Signed] Bogdan Comaroni

   [Text of "Armageddon 7" report]

    It has been exactly 12 years since the SRI was established and 12 years since the public has been systematically and shamelessly lied to about the composition of that structure. Both [former SRI Directors] Virgil Magureanu and Costin Georgescu and [current SRI Director] Radu Timofte have been misleading us and are continuing to do so, taking turns to assure us that the SRI is becoming a modern intelligence service, in which he number of former Securitate officers is decreasing continuously. Today we find that, on the contrary, the former Communist body in charge of repression and intelligence is still controlling the game at the SRI, as the number of former Securitate officers always prevails at the SRI management level in Bucharest, in the management of local branches, and in all of its compartments. Retired former Securitate officers are also certainly on the offensive, infiltrated in economic structures, in financial institutions, managing public and private money, in the executive, and in the legislature. They have been and still are present in state or private funds, in financial investment companies, in the Financial Oversight Body, in the customs system, and, not least, in privatization mechanisms. Exactly 54 private security and protection companies are managed by former Securitate officers, and all of them are in permanent conflict with this country's laws. They have been parasites on numerous banks, under the pretext of assuring the internal and external protection of those banks, and the banks protected by them have collapsed, one by one. They established the International Religions Bank [BIR], and they are the ones who led it to bankruptcy when the population's deposits reached a tempting size. Then they got together in all kinds of insurance companies, which have no brilliant future.

    In fact, our forecast has partly been confirmed. In an extreme situation, they signed up together under the banner of the great robber Sorin Ovidiu Vantu, who is cleverer than them at making money out of corners where they did not have access, either because they did not know the procedure or for other reasons. What can be more significant than the fact that more than 320 reservists from the former Securitate and the SRI, shoulder to shoulder, worked for this profoundly dubious man, cashing in their shares, of course? Equally, what can be more significant than the fact that our vigilant domestic intelligence service pretended not to notice anything when Vantu's clay empire was riding on top of the wave? We are going back to the former Securitate officers that the SRI has kept. When he was director, Magureanu deceived us by claiming that there were only 15 percent of them in the service he managed. A decade later, Timofte is triumphantly giving us the same percentage. What could this mean? That out of the first 15 percent, those who died or retired were replaced with former Securitate people brought from home or from the marketplace? Unlike the SRI directors, the directors of the SIE [Foreign Intelligence Service] at least had the common sense to stay away from playing games with numbers, and, implicitly, from becoming ridiculous.

    For years we have been told that former Securitate officers in the SIE and the SRI were kept exclusively as specialists. In that case, what was the specialty of General Dumitru Badescu, SRI division chief, if he ended up being mocked by a small-time informer? What was the specialty of General Corneliu Grigoras, SIE directorate chief, if two less-known journalists with modest reputations managed to lure him into a trap, through which he lost his job? Come to think of it, what was the specialty of General Vasile Lupu, first deputy of the SRI bosses during two parliamentary terms in office, decorated by President Ion Iliescuand former President Emil Constantinescu? Did he specialized in the low blows with which he tried to hit Timofte?

    Actually, the SIE and the SRI did not keep Securitate officers who distinguished themselves before 1989 by their civilized, measured behavior. Instead, they kept the ones who were not shy about making every possible move to get ahead, polishing the shoes of the right figurehead politicians, hanging around talking and pretending they were good at something, or putting up for bid documents that could be used for blackmail. In this manner, the SRI was filled with people who pull strings behind the scenes and engage in intrigues, and others who are good for nothing. Made up of both active and retired officers, this category of Securitate officers was precisely the one who troubled the waters all the time in our society, because they are ready for any contingency. They have people who support the government, but they also have other shifts that support the opposition.

    The most certain sign that power in the SIE and the SRI is no longer in the hands of the evanescent directors, but in the hands of former Securitate officers is offered by the two latest major decisions made because these officers exercised pressure. The former has to do with the SIE: from now on, this espionage service can do business for profit. Namely, it can establish firms, and it is certain that auditing bodies will not have access to their management. As they used to do in the old days, a special auditing body will be established, made up of former Securitate people. In connection with this issue, we reiterate a statement made by the distinguished General Iulian Vlad on 31 March1990: "Security work, the prestige of the institution, and even this country's good name have been seriously damaged by the so-called activity to bring in hard currency, conducted primarily by external UM [Military Unit] 0544 and UM 0195, as well as the internal security UM 0650. Apart from the fact that, most of the time, the moneys represented a small fraction of the price of the goods that the state would have cashed in anyway in fair negotiations, Securitate officers had to enter into all kinds of combinations with foreigners, which were often compromising, and there was no definite control of their activity and of the hard currency involved. Equally serious was the fact that the units in question had to a large extent been detoured from the missions for which they had been established and which were useful to the country. Despite all of the efforts we made to exempt the Securitate from this task or at least to reduce it substantially, we were not successful. On the contrary [Securitate chief] Tudor Postelnicu turned it into a priority activity, to which the entire apparatus had to contribute." Obviously, former Securitate officers who used to work for the CIE [Foreign Intelligence Center] or even the DIE [Foreign Intelligence Directorate] feel their palms itch when they think about dollars and euros. But who would have imagined that an intellectual like Ioan Talpes, who supervised the transformation of the SIE into a SA [shareholding company] or even anSRL [limited partnership company], could play Postelnicu's role so happily?

    The latter decision, made under pressure from former Securitate officers, this time in the SRI, was to dismantle the National Intelligence Agency [ANI]. As pretexts, they invoked the lack of funds and the fact that many graduates do not live up to the commitment they make, not taking jobs in the SRI. That is great! Funds for useless trips around the world in airplanes full of family members, political supporters, and most obedient journalists can be found immediately. But not for a school meant to educate officers who will protect this country's interests.   The truth is different: there is better education at the ANI than what they used to get at the Securitate school in Baneasa Forest [near Bucharest], which bothers Securitate people, who were educated at schools where attendance was not required and who have the kind of degrees that everybody knows how they were granted -- and still are. It is also normal that the graduates in question avoid getting jobs with the SRI. Nobody in his right mind and with a solid education would agree to become the servant of the likes of Vasile Lupu, who chases ranks, and Dumitru Badescu, who is a sucker.

    It was a piece of cake for former Securitate officers to penetrate the legislature. Colonel Stefan David, former chief of the Securitate in Resita, broke the ice. We cannot accuse Colonel Ilie Merce of any wrongdoing, almost all of the writers in Bucharest knew him, and maybe he even got the votes of some of them who were curious to see how a Securitate man is doing in democracy: like fish out of water or like an earthworm in the fish's mouth? However, Ristea Priboi, forgetting to tell people that he was a former Securitate officer, worked like a real crook. More, he associated the SIE with his con job. The SIE did not communicate to the CNSAS [National Council for the Study of Securitate Files] any precise data on him, thus contributing to its own compromising. Indeed, following such an experience, how can anyone trust the service's signals, syntheses, and verdicts?   Still, the penetration of former Securitate officers into the executive is much more dangerous. Wearing the masks of advisers, they teem everywhere, like termites. We have identified six or seven such people in the entourage of the prime minister alone, with Priboi as their leader, fretting around.

    If the name of our prime minister was Vladimir Voronin or Aleksandr Lukashenko, this would be explainable. But it is harder to answer this question: why does highly educated, aloof Adrian Nastase put up with Priboi, who is poor in spirit, whom even his former colleagues hate as a piece of garbage, lovingly calling him "Pig!"   What does Nastase learn from Constantin Silinescu, a nobody in his profession? What does he learn from General Mihai Caraman, who engaged in espionage with the posterior part of his body toward the enemy? To say nothing of other people, smaller ones, but cleverer in getting lost in the vegetation of the government savanna, hiding behind various fuzzy landmarks in the landscape. There is an idea floating in the air that, following a personality cult that is exhibited according to all the rules, there is a dictatorship in store for us. For now, Nicolae Ceausescu has strong reasons to be envious: he only spoke on television two hours a day, because that is how long Romanian Television stayed on the air. In comparison, Nastase speaks to the nation from dawn until after midnight, because we now have many more televisions that are on the air around the clock.   We will discuss some other time the dictatorship that makes both Nastase and stupid Priboi happy. When it is too late for them.

    PS: We are publishing fragments of a list that includes more than 1,600 names of former Securitate officers who have been going from one place to another in the SRI, the SIE, and other, more civilian structures from 1990 to present.   In order to avoid accusations that we publish state secrets, we steered clear of developing our demonstration on the current SRI staffing scheme. In the current circumstances, a possible investigation would not ask what those Securitate people are doing in the staffing scheme, it would ask why observers who were not taken into consideration got hold of that scheme.

    Appendix

    Ion Adamescu

    Former Securitate officer, recuperated by the SRI with the rank of colonel and hired by the Timisoara section.   He cooperated in exposing Magureanu's informer file, and this is why he was placed in the reserves on 16 April 1996.

    Aldea

    Former officer of the Securitate Fourth Directorate. Currently lieutenant colonel, section chief in the Army General Intelligence Directorate [DGIA].

    Aleca

    Former Securitate officer from Ramnicu Valcea, recuperated by the SRI with the rank of major. Two months after the December 1989 events, he resumed surveillance of the county hospital in town, his objective before the revolution.

    Constantin Alexa

    Former Securitate officer, recycled by the SRI. He took the initiative to expose file Z 4848, which revealed that Francisc Baranyi [former health minister] used to be a Securitate informer. He was later dismissed from the service and sued.

    Stefan Alexie

    Former Securitate general, chief of the Counterespionage Directorate, and state secretary in the Interior Ministry before December 1989.   In the 1990s, for a rather long period of time, he worked as an adviser to controversial businessman Vantu, who made an essential contribution in bankrupting the National Investment Fund [FNI].

    Vasile Alexoie

    Before 1989, he was chief of the Securitate in Roman. After December 1989, he was co-opted in the SRI management in Iasi County. After being placed in the reserves, he became president of the Iasi FNI and director of the local Gelsor company branch, which belonged to Vantu.

    Valer Andreica

    Former Securitate officer, taken by the SRI with the rank of major. At first, he worked for the section in Targu Mures. In July 1998, he was transferred to the post of deputy chief of the SRI section in Cluj.

    Andrei Andronic

    Former Securitate officer. Taken by the SRI, he was promoted to the rank of colonel and promoted to the post of chief of the SRI section in Iasi.

    Octavian Stelian Andronic

    Former colonel in the Securitate espionage service, station chief in The Netherlands and Israel. Because of his precarious professionalism, he was no longer accredited abroad during the last period of the Communist regime, and he worked for the AVP [special hard currency providing] service. Reactivated by the SRI as an economic adviser to Magureanu, he had his headquarters in London Street [Bucharest], under the cover of a ghost company called Eson SRL, where the wife of journalist Octavian Andronic was a shareholder. As an adviser, Octavian Stelian Andronic sold several documents to the SRI that had been in the Securitate archives for a long time on the paintings that were taken out of the country by former King Mihai and his attempts to sell them through Western auction firms. Eson SRL ceased its activity following press reports.

    Vasile Angelescu

    Former high-ranking officer in the espionage service of the former Securitate, suspected of ties with the KGB in Romania. After the events of December 1989, he was promoted to the rank of general and promoted to the post of first deputy director of the new SIE. His son, Mircea Angelescu, an important member of the FSN [National Salvation Front] in the 1990s, was involved as shareholder in the dubious business of the SC Macons and Co SA company, registered in Belgium. He then became President Iliescu's chief of staff.

    Constantin Angelescu

    Former high-ranking Securitate officer. Before December 1989, he was chief of UM 107/AVS of the CIE, a unit that specialized in state smuggling. In 2000, he was vice president of the Rapid soccer club.

    Marin Antonie

    Former Securitate officer. He was one of the first deputies of the SRI section chief in Dolj County.

    Apavaloaie

    Former officer of the Securitate Fourth Directorate. Currently a lieutenant colonel, chief of the financial service, in the DGIA.

    Apostolescu

    Former Securitate officer, working for the Fifth Directorate, which was in charge of protecting Ceausescu and other Communist dignitaries. Currently, he is chief of the SRI section in Brasov.

    Petre Arsene

    Former Securitate officer. As a reservist, he coordinated the establishment of a dubious private investigation agency in Ramnicu Valcea, which got illegally involved in the riot led by miners in September 1991. Later, it was discovered that the so-called ANISE [National Investigation and Economic Security Agency] was established with forged deeds.

    Gheorghe Atudoroaie

    Former Securitate officer in Timisoara, involved in the crackdown in December 1989. After being taken away from judiciary bodies, the SRI recuperated him with the rank of colonel. For a while, he was chief of the Protection Division. Costin Georgescu tried to appoint him as chief of the SRI Zonal Operative Center in Oradea, but his appointment was cancelled following protests from civil society.

    Alexandru Avram

    Former Securitate colonel in UM 0225, a unit of the CIE in charge of infiltrating the organizations of the anti-Communist emigration and combating programs by foreign radio stations that broadcast in Romanian. After December 1989, he held on for a few years in the espionage
service, but then he was placed in the reserves because he could not speak any foreign language. With other former Securitate officers, he managed to steal several confidential documents from the Astra insurance company, which unleashed an intense press campaign against the management of that company through intermediaries. Following that campaign, the Astra management was changed. After that, Avram became deputy director of the Astra branch in Bucharest, although he has received no training in insurance.

    Baciu

    Former Securitate officer recuperated by the SRI with the rank of major. He was the first officer of the new intelligence institution to become the object of a public scandal when he tried to reactivate an informer.

    Vasile Badea

    Former officer of the Securitate Fourth Directorate. Currently a lieutenant colonel, deputy section chief of the DGIA.

    Ion Balea

    Reserve colonel of the former Securitate. In July 1992 several members of the PNTCD [National Peasant Christian Democratic Party] in Arges County accused him of having infiltrated the local PNTCD organization on behalf of the SRI.

    Alexandru Balogh

    Former Securitate officer recuperated by the SRI. In 1998, he was chief of the surveillance service of the SRI section in Cluj.

    Bogdan Baltazar

    According to Mircea Raceanu, who has recently been decorated by Iliescu, before December 1989, Baltazar was an undercover Securitate officer. After the December 1989 events, he became an important member in the leadership of the PD [Democratic Party].   Now he is president of the Romanian Development Bank [BRD-Groupe Societe Generale].

    Dumitru Badescu

    Former Securitate officer. Taken by the SRI, he became a general in December 1994 and managed the Economic Counterintelligence Division. He played an important role in detouring the investigation into the Cigarette 2 affair, directly participating in forging the file developed by the Military Prosecuting Magistracy. He was dismissed because he made stupid use of an informer, who talked to the press. The way in which he allowed himself to be trapped proved the very low level of his professionalism. Later, he was appointed adviser to the SRI director.

    Domitian Baltei

    Former colonel in the Securitate espionage service, deputy station chief in London and Tokyo, then station chief in Cologne. Dismissed from the service for immoral behavior and involvement in various businesses that favored Generals Nicolae Doicaru and Ion Mihai Pacepa. After being placed in the reserves, he became a professor at the Stefan Gheorghiu Academy. After December 1989, he infiltrated himself into the entourage of Corneliu Vadim Tudor [president of the Greater Romania Party, PRM], whom he intoxicated with the most fantastic information, of which some could have compromised this country's foreign relations. When the press exposed his past as a Securitate man, Vadim dismissed him as a political adviser.

    Ionel Bidireci

    Former high-ranking Securitate officer. He is now a general and chief of the SRI Counterintelligence Division.

    Roxana Bichel

    She has been mentioned by the press recently in the entourage of the management staff of the executive and the Privatization Ministry. A member of the boards of a multitude of economic companies. If by any chance she is a member of the Ivan Bikel family (Bikel was a DIE colonel, who once worked under the cover of Romanian representative of the West German Franz Kirchfeld company), we understand whom we are talking about.

    Mihai Bichir

    Former officer of the Securitate espionage service, recycled by the SIE with the rank of colonel. Director of Directorate E 101 (Europe, United States, Canada, and international bodies). He is said to be Teodor Melescanu's man, with whom he cooperated in Geneva and who helped him in his career.

    Ioan Bidu

    Former Securitate officer. Currently deputy rector of the National Intelligence Academy, which educates future SRI officers.

    Cornel Biris

    Former Securitate officer, recuperated by the SIE. On 30 November 1999, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general. Chief of the division in charge of crisis analysis and deputy director of the SRI. Placed in the reserves in February 2002 at the request of [SIE Director] Gheorghe Fulga.

    Ion Bodunescu

    Former Securitate colonel, former chief of the MI [Interior Ministry] county inspectorates in the counties of Dolj, Mehedinti, and Teleorman. Until 1989, he distinguished himself by publishing works written by Blacks. Despite the fact that he was caught committing gross plagiarism,
he continued to dedicate himself to this hobby [preceding word published in English]. In the early 1990s, his name could be found in Romania Mare, Politica, and Europa, with insipid, nostalgic, and vindictive articles, marked, of course, by ardent patriotism.

    Titu Bondoc

    Former Securitate officer, taken in by the SRI and appointed deputy chief of the SRI Section in Gorj County. In June 1990, he coordinated the journey of the miners to Bucharest. Later, he was placed in the reserves, with the rank of colonel. In May 2001, he was still under criminal investigation by the Section of Military Prosecuting Magistracies for undermining state power.

    Liviu Borcea

    Former Securitate officer, former labor camp commander at the Danube-Black Sea Canal. Due to his criminal behavior, dozens of political prisoners and common criminals died. After 1989 he retired to Cluj, and nobody has held him accountable for his crimes.

    Ion Botofei

    Former Securitate colonel, in charge of ensuring the security of Ceausescu's routes in Bucharest. For a while, he was also deputy commander of the Bucharest Municipality Securitate. After a short recycling at the SRI, he was appointed chief of the Association of Former SRI Officers, which is in fact an association of former Securitate officers. He provided the liaison between former Securitate people in the SRI management and Securitate people placed in the reserves.

    Valentin Constantin Bretfelean

    Former Securitate officer. Until September 2001, as a major, he managed the SRI Section in Maramures County. Dismissed and sent before the SRI Trial Council for serious violations of the institution's rules. So far, he has not been punished in any way.

    Nicolae Briceag

    Former Securitate officer. He summarily executed at least 12 individuals who had not been sentenced to death; these facts have been determined by the Communist authorities. After 1990, he retired to Cluj, and nobody has held him accountable for his deeds.

    Doru Blaj

    Former officer of the Securitate Fourth Directorate.   He is now a  lieutenant colonel and section chief in the DGIA.

    Constantin Bucur

    Former Securitate officer recycled by the SRI, where he specialized in wiretapping telephone conversations. He placed at the disposal of the press several inconclusive tapes that involved the institution in an unwanted scandal. He was dismissed on 14 June 1999, and the Military
Court of Appeals sentenced him to two years in prison, suspended. Later, as a member of the PRM, he ran for office and became a deputy in the Romanian Parliament.

    Vasile Buliga

    Former Securitate officer. In recent years, he has been an employee of the Gelsor trust, managed by Vantu.

    Marius Tertulian Budusel

    Former Securitate officer. After December 1989, he was employed by the SRI and promoted, until he reached the post of section chief in Pitesti.

    Florin Calapod

    Former high-ranking Securitate officer. After December 1989, he became commander of UM 0215, the MI unit in charge of intelligence and counterintelligence, which he tried to turn into a parallel service to the SRI. The press repeatedly reported, offering concrete examples, that
under Calapod's management, UM 0215 was engaged in political police activities, to the detriment of its legal duties. After having been placed in the reserves, he got involved in suspicious business with US and Australian firms that distribute Viagra illegally online. He has appeared in some television shows, lecturing the nation on what an intelligence service is all about.

    Cornel Caraba

    Former Securitate officer in UM 0110. During the last period of the Communist regime, he worked for the Securitate espionage service, namely in UM 0544: in 1986 he was temporarily transferred from there to Cluj. After December 1989, he was employed by the SRI and promoted to the rank of colonel and to the post of SRI section chief in Cluj. The press reported that he could have been one of the artisans of the 1996 Cristal plan, which sought to ensure the survival of the Securitate and the preservation of its influence as the Communist regime collapsed. Owing to his unorthodox relations with the underground economic circles of Transylvania, the local and central press attacked him. In July 1998, he was transferred to the SRI central offices in Bucharest.

    Mihai Caraman

    Retired Securitate general. In 1958-1968, as chief of the espionage station in Paris, he led the notorious "Caraman network," which managed to steal documents from NATO headquarters. Later, he was chief of the DIE Counterintelligence Division. After Pacepa's defection, he was transferred to marginal posts and eventually placed in the reserves. Immediately after the December 1989 events, he was appointed chief of the CIE, which later became the SIE. The anomaly was obvious: the espionage service of a country seeking NATO membership was left in the hands of a man who had spied on NATO. Caraman was dismissed in May 1992 at the express request of Manfred Woerner, then NATO secretary general. Currently, the same Caraman is a private adviser to Nastase.

    Cristian Calinoiu

    Former Securitate officer. After December 1989, employed by the Antiterrorist Brigade with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was a member of that brigade, which was deployed at the Otopeni International Airport [near Bucharest]. In 1992, it was determined that he was giving job-related information to Europa magazine, edited by Ilie Neacsu, who is currently a PRM deputy.

    Traian Chebeleu

    According to Raceanu, before 1989, Chebeleu was an undercover Securitate officer in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In the 1990s, he became a presidential adviser and spokesman for Iliescu. Under Constantinescu, he went back to diplomacy.

    Mihai Ciausescu

    Former Securitate officer, recuperated by the SRI with the rank of captain. Officer in the surveillance service of the SRI Section in Cluj.

    Traian Ciceo

    Former officer of the Securitate espionage service. Before December 1989, he worked in Paris under diplomatic cover. There was suspicion that he might have been recruited by the French special services. Despite that, he was promoted in the SRI to the rank of brigadier general. He acted to counteract irredentism, extremism, and separatism on ethnic criteria. In March 1998, owing to his Bacchus-like inclinations, he was dismissed from the SRI.

    Cigan

    Former Securitate officer, currently a lawyer with the Bihor County Bar. As the press has reported, by offering bribe to the right people, he propelled his wife up to the post of vice president of the Court of Appeals in Oradea.

    Ciovica

    Former Securitate officer. In the SRI, he became chief of the Zonal Operative Center in Targu Mures. Placed in the reserves in 1998.

    Cismaru

    Former Securitate officer from Valcea County. As a major in the SRI, he became chief of the section in Bacau.

    Stefan Floricel Coman

    Beginning in 1968, he was a Securitate officer in the former Special Unit "T," UM 0634, empowered to wiretap telephone conversations. After the events of December 1989, he became a commander of the Special Telecommunication Service [STS], subordinated to the Country's Supreme Defense Council [CSAT].

    Costel Ciuca

    Former officer of the Securitate DIE. Close ties with people involved in the Cigarette 2 smuggling affair. Close ties with Amer Obeid, president of the League of Iraqis in Romania.

    Valentin Ciuca

    Former Securitate officer, arrested in December 1989 and investigated as a member of the Timisoara lot. After two years and some months, he was released from prison, for lack of evidence. With Radu Tinu, he founded the Tival Impex SRL company, which prospered during the embargo imposed on Yugoslavia.

    Gheorghe Cocos

    Former high-ranking officer of the Securitate espionage service. He worked in Italy under the cover of chief of the Economic Agency in Milan. Several years ago, he was banned from entering Italy. Currently, he is managing some of the firms that belong to George Constantin Paunescu.

    Constantin Constantin

    Former Securitate officer. As a colonel in 1989, he was chief of the UM 0215 personnel service. He is a close relative of Viorel Hrebenciuc.

    Marian Cornaciu

    Officer of the Securitate DIE. He worked for the Dunarea foreign trade enterprise. After the events of December 1989, he privatized, specializing in selling concentrated fodder for cattle. Currently, he is an important member of the Romanian Humanist Party [PUR], led by Dan Voiculescu.

    Corneci

    Former Securitate colonel. He is currently a member of the SRI management in charge of the thorny personnel issue.

    Valeriu Corsatea

    Former Securitate officer. In the SRI, he was deputy commander of the Antiterrorist Brigade. In December 1994, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general. In 1998, he was transferred, becoming deputy chief of an SRI intelligence division.

    Neagu Cosma

    Securitate general, former chief of the Third Directorate, which was in charge of espionage, former commander of the Baneasa school for Securitate officers. After being placed in the reserves, he became executive president of the Romanian Automobile Club. In 1990, he was
reactivated in the SRI as chief of the Inspection Service and adviser to Magureanu. Soon, they dismissed him. General Gheorghe Diaconescu said in an interview that Cosma allegedly tried to obtain some problematic files in the archives of the former Securitate.

    Lucian Costache

    Former Securitate captain of the MI Inspectorate in Buzau. He cooperated with Petrica Dinu in recruiting informers. After the events of December 1989, he was hired by the Buzau County Police Inspectorate.

    Gheorghe Cotoman

    Former Securitate officer, recuperated by the SRI as lieutenant colonel. In 1994, he was deputy chief of the J Formation.

    Ovidiu Craciun

    Former Securitate officer, currently lieutenant colonel, chief of the SRI Section in Piatra Neamt.

    Dumitru Cristea

    A professional psychologist, one of the worst acquisitions that Magureanu made from civilian life. As deputy SRI director and rector of the National Intelligence Institute, he was quickly promoted to the rank of general, but he had suspicious relations with female students who were subordinate to him, and this disqualified him morally, so he had to give up his post. Possibly, former Securitate officers in the SRI management stabbed him in the back, because they treated him like a stranger.

    Mircea Croitoru

    Former officer of the Securitate espionage service. For a while, he worked under diplomatic cover in London, but he was recalled in 1978 under vague circumstances. Under President Constantinescu, he was appointed ambassador to Oslo, and the press criticized this.

    Florentin Danciu

    Former Securitate officer recuperated by the SRI as a lieutenant colonel. In 1994, he was commander of Division E.

    Mihai Darie

    Former Securitate officer from 14 April 1976 to 15 April 1990, when he was placed in the reserves. Before December 1989, he monitored the Fundeni hospital. In 1990, he specialized as chief of the FSN economic commission. At the same time he established and managed various private firms. He returned to politics as secretary general of the Bucharest Prefecture. In 1997, he was executive secretary of the PD. Like any important former Securitate man, he has a certificate for fighting for the victory of the Romanian revolution.

    Gheorghe Dascalu

    Former undercover DIE officer. Physical therapist, settled in Desenzano, Brescia Province, Italy. Involved in the Porcelain smuggling affair. In 2000, he was reported to have German and Romanian citizenships and an Italian identity document.

    Stefan David

    Former Securitate colonel with a dubious past. Until 1985, he managed the Securitate service in Caras Severin County. In the 1992-1996 Parliament, he was a deputy representing the Socialist Labor Party.

    Daniel Daianu

    Former officer of the Securitate espionage service, a fact he admitted to after becoming finance minister in the Victor Ciorbea government. The prime minister defended him, saying he allegedly did not conduct political police activities.

    Aurealian Deaconescu

    Former Securitate officer. Currently chief of the Fraud Service in the Astra insurance company. He was involved in defrauding the company to Vantu's benefit.

    Constantin Decu

    Former Securitate officer, recuperated by the SRI as colonel. In the mid-1990s, he was chief of the SRI section in Constanta.

    Dumitru Diaconescu

    Former Securitate colonel, personnel chief of the Bucharest Municipality Securitate. After December 1989, he managed the Aliance Coop company, which was involved in arms trafficking. He had shady financial relations with Bankcoop, a bank that was deliberately led to bankruptcy, and with the military company Romtehnica.

    Gheorghe Diaconescu

    Former colonel with the Securitate Third Directorate, which was in charge of counterespionage. After December 1989 he became deputy director of the SRI. Dismissed for illegally possessing documents of the former Securitate, alcoholism, and the incorrect handling of hard currency funds. Later, he ensured the intelligence protection of the deals made by businessman Costel Bobic.

    Nicolae Dinca

    Former Securitate officer, taken into the SRI as major. At first, he worked for the SRI Section in Timis County. In July 1998, he was transferred and became deputy chief of the SRI Section in Cluj.

    Petrica Dinu

    Former counterintelligence captain at the Buzau County Securitate. There, under cover of representing the Frigo Service, he organized a center to recruit informers. After the events of December 1989, he became chief of the service in charge of protecting personnel in the Buzau County Police Inspectorate, and he was involved in monitoring and harassing the opponents of the Iliescu regime.

    Doban

      Former Securitate officer, specialized in "bourgeois" political parties and people who were convicted for political reasons. He managed the file on philosopher Constantin Noica, who was monitored [by the Securitate].

    Dimitrie Dobre

    Former high-ranking officer of the Securitate espionage service, he continued his activity after December 1989 in the SIE. In March 1998, after being promoted to the rank of general, he was placed in the reserves.

    Vasile Doros

    Former Securitate colonel, former chief of the SRI Section in Bacau, which he managed for eight years. Through his son, Claudiu Doros, he led the FNI local branch in Bacau, an institution that was deliberately led to bankruptcy by Vantu.

    Dragoman

    Former Securitate officer recuperated by the SRI as colonel. In 1998, he was chief of the SRI Section in Arad.

    Ion Dragoi

    Former Securitate officer in UM 0110. After December 1989, he became section chief of Politia Romana [Romanian Police] magazine. After being placed in the reserves, he worked for various publications, including Expres magazine (the Cornel Nistorescu series). Currently, he is looking for sponsors to publish an espionage and counterespionage publication.

    Artur Dumitrescu

    Prosecutor, an active collaborator of the Securitate before December 1989. Among other things, he was the one who investigated those who participated in the protest rally against the Communist regime in Brasov on 15 November 1987. For his zeal at the time, he was promoted, and he kept his prerogatives after Ceausescu's regime was ousted, as well. In 1998 he was delegated to investigate the Cigarette 2 smuggling affair, namely to erase the traces of the intelligence services' involvement in that con job.

    Gheorghe Dumitrescu

    Former Securitate officer. When Cigarette 2 was unfolding, he was a captain with the SRI surveillance service.

    Vasile Dumitru

    Former Securitate colonel in the espionage service. He worked undercover as a press attache in London. After December 1989, he specialized as a journalist working for the Expres press trust. He published various articles wherever and whenever he could, exalting the ineptness of the institution he was once a member of.

    Nicodim Farcas

    Former Securitate officer, recycled by the SRI as a lieutenant colonel, subordinated to Colonel Ghoerghe Moldovan at the SRI Section in Maramures County. There were reports that he gave information from inside the service to the PUNR [Romanian National Unity Party].

    Virgil Faur

    Former officer of the Securitate espionage service, recycled by the SIE as a colonel.

    Filip

    Former Securitate officer, a CI [expansion not given] at the Cluj army command. Recuperated by the SRI as a colonel.

    Florea

    Former Securitate officer. As a major in the SRI, he was chief of the SRI Section in Harghita County.

    Gheorghe Alexandru Florea

    Former Securitate officer recuperated by the SRI as colonel. In 1994, he was chief of the SRI General Secretariat.

    Ioan Florian

    Former Securitate officer. In 1998 he was chief of the SRI Section in Buzau. Previously, he managed the Zonal Operative Center in Cluj.

    Nicolae Garofeanu

    Former Securitate officer. Recuperated by the SRI, he became the first chief of the Pitesti section. The press published documents that showed the exposure of old informers and political police preoccupations similar to those he had before December 1989.

    Ion Petre Gavrilescu

    He was a higher-ranking officer in the former Securitate's espionage department. In 2000, he was brought back to active service in the SIE through a presidential decree. He was promoted to the rank of division general. His true identity triggered controversial debates. A little bit more than one year later, he was passed again into the reserves.

    Mircea Gheordunescu

    He used to work as a physics teacher at a Bucharest high school [Spiru Haret]. Until 1989, he was one of the former Securitate's informants. Later, he entered the political life. He joined the PNTCD. In 1996, he was appointed as a deputy director in the Romanian Intelligence Service. Many people who were familiar with his past used to blackmail him. That is why, from the position he had at that time, he favored many fraudulent privatization processes, such as those involving a chain of food shops in Bucharest and the Bucharest Hotel.

    Dan Gheorghe

    He is a former Securitate officer. He was the deputy commanding officer of the special unit in charge of antiterrorism. He was an active participant in the attempt to reprimand the street actions that led to Nicolae Ceausescu's fall. In December 1989 -- the media also wrote about this -- in his capacity as the head of the defense unit at the Otopeni International Airport, he allowed approximately 50 Securitate officers to flee abroad by using counterfeit documents. After December 1989, he was appointed head of the SRI's antiterrorist brigade. For a short while, he worked for the UM 0215. This unit had more expertise in the field of the political police than in anything else. After that, he was briefly the director of the Universul news agency while Sorin Ovidiu Vantu owned it. The agency was accused of having been an intelligence service, working in parallel with the similar state services. Dan Gherghe came back to the SRI as an aide to the body's new director, Radu Timofte. On 1 November 2001 he resigned from office. However, he continues to be present in ruling circles.

    Gheorghe Gherghina

    He is a former Securitate officer, Colonel Gheorghe Ardelean's deputy (former Moise Bula) at the USLA's [Special Unit To Fight Terrorism] leadership. After having been re-trained in the SRI, he was Ion Botofei's successor in the leadership of the Former SRI's Officers' Association, which is in fact an association of former Securitate officers. He ensures the connection between the former Securitate officers currently in the SRI's leadership and those in the reserves.

    Dan Ghibernea

    Before 1989, a person with an identical name was an undercover officer in the former Securitate's espionage department. He was accredited as an international civil servant at UNESCO. At the moment, the Dan Ghibernea we refer to is Romania's ambassador to the United Kingdom.

    Marius Ghile

    A former Securitate officer in the Second Directorate for economic counterintelligence. He was an expert in Hungarian counterespionage. In 2000, he was appointed as the head of the SRI Salaj County's branch.

    Benone Ghinea

    A former officer in the Securitate's espionage department. After the December 1989 events, he was brought back into active service in the SIE. He was sent to South Africa as an undercover agent, acting as a commercial attache. He involved himself in some suspect deals with Puma helicopters and cashed some undue commission fees. He was sent to court and received a mild sentence, just "fit" for a former Securitate officer.

    Mihai Ghita

    A former Securitate officer, currently a colonel, and head of the SRI's Slatina branch.

    Nicolae Goia

    A former Securitate officer. Currently a member of the Foreign Intelligence Service's leadership. In February 2002, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general.

    Nicolae Dorel Goron

    A former Securitate officer. Currently a colonel and the incumbent head of the SRI's Arad branch.

    Grama

    A former Securitate counterintelligence officer. Following the December 1989 events, the SRI rehabilitated him with the rank of a Colonel. In a short while, he was appointed as the head of the human resources staff in the "G" Division (logistics).

    Ilie Anghel Gradinaru

    A former Securitate officer. In the SRI, he was promoted to the position of head of the department for religious cult-sects in the SRI Constanta County branch. He holds the rank of major. In the spring of 2000, he was noticed while keeping the PDSR's [Social Democracy Party of Romania] staff under surveillance during their visit to Constanta.

    Corneliu Grigoras

    A former officer in the Securitate's espionage department. He was kept in the system after the events in December 1989, too. On the eve of the 1996 elections, he monitored the moves made in the CDR's [Romanian Democratic Convention] headquarters for the PDSR's benefit. Nevertheless, during Emil Constantinescu's presidential mandate he was promoted to the rank of general and appointed to the General Counterespionage Directorate in the SIE. Two journalists staged a trap for him. He proved to be a stupid person, fell into this trap, and was removed from office.

    Eugen Grigorescu

    A former Securitate officer. In the SRI's structures, he was promoted to colonel and then to brigadier general. He is the head of the technical expertise division, code-named Division "S."

    Gugiu

    A former Securitate colonel. When the former SRI Officers' Association was set up, he was appointed its cashier.

    Nicolae Constantin Hateganu

    A former Securitate officer. Chairman of the Astra Insurance Company's administrative board. His role is still unclear in the damages brought against the company in Sorin Ovidiu Vantu's favor. He was removed from office in March 2001. At the moment, he is being investigated.

    Ioan Hancu

    A former Securitate officer. In the SRI, with the rank of colonel, he became the deputy head of the Cluj field branch. He was removed from office in July 1998.

    Gheorghe Huidu

    A former Securitate officer. He kept the Romanian Radio Public Station under surveillance. After December 1989, the SRI recovered him with the rank of colonel. The project of the extremist magazine Europa, led by Ilie Neacsu, was drafted at his residence. Neacsu, a former PRM MP, passed with bag and baggage to the PSD.

    Bujorel Iamandi

    A former Securitate officer. After being recruited into the SRI, he was promoted to the rank of general. He was promoted to the position of head of the Counterintelligence Department, currently called the Protection Department. He was removed from office following the Timofte-KGB [SRI's incumbent director's alleged ties with the KGB] scandal.

    Vasile Valeriu Iancu

    A former Securitate colonel. Currently, the SRI director's first deputy. On 30 November 1999, he was promoted to brigadier general. Before December 1989 he worked within the foreign counterintelligence unit in the UM 0215, which was set after General Ion Mihai Pacepa's defection. He also worked in the UM 0544, for foreign counterintelligence. After the revolution, he was appointed the first head of the SRI's Counterintelligence Directorate. Then he was appointed as head of the SRI's oversight body.

    Teodor Ilies

    A former officer in the Securitate's Directorate for Foreign Intelligence. At the moment he is in the leading team of the SC [commercial company] Alliancecoop. During 1995-1996, the Army's Procurement Department contacted him for the purpose of facilitating some dubious arms exports.

    Florian Ioan

    A former Securitate officer. He was brought back to active service in the presidential bodyguard and protection service, where he was promoted to colonel. In 1998, he was passed into the reserves due to health-related causes. He has placed himself at the disposal of controversial businessman Sorin Ovidiu Vantu. In this capacity, he set up a paramilitary service in the village of Corbeanca [close to Bucharest]. Its missions included surveillance and escort activities, and even abducting people.

    Alexandru Iordache

    A former Securitate officer and expert in criminal investigations. On 31 December 1990, he was passed into the reserves, upon request, from the Romanian Intelligence Service. He was involved in smuggling cigarettes from Cyprus. Through these operations, he brought damages amounting to $110 million to the Romanian State. On 15 July 2001, he was brought back to active service for a short while in the SRI. At the moment he is a personal legal aide to General Zaharia Toma, who is a secretary of state in the Interior Ministry. It has been pointed out Iordache allegedly has bank accounts in Switzerland at the BNP Schweiz.

    Nicolae Iosub

    A former officer in the Securitate's Fourth Directorate. Currently a colonel, he is a department head in the Army's General Directorate of Intelligence.

    Virgil Irimia

    A former higher-ranking Securitate officer. The SRI recovered him with the rank of colonel. Immediately after the December 1989 events, he became the deputy head of the SRI's Botosani County branch. He was removed from office on charges of being involved in deals carried out by some dubious companies in that county.

    Nicolae Irinoiu

    A former high-ranking officer in the Securitate's espionage department. He was kept in the system some time after the 1996 elections. He carried out intelligence missions in the United States and in Turkey. He was passed into reserves with the rank of general.

    Juverdeanu

    A former Securitate officer recovered by the SRI with the rank of major. He was passed into the reserves following some blackmail activities carried out by resorting to counterfeit documents.

    Mihai Lazar

    A former Securitate officer at the Dunarea foreign trade company, which was under the Securitate's control. At the moment, he is a general manager at Grivco International SA.

    Pavel Lascut

    Before 1989, he was an officer within the Foreign Intelligence Center [CIE]. He was the office head in the Department for France-Benelux-Spain-Portugal in the Europe Division. He also carried out missions abroad, under the cover of a commercial representative in Spain and Portugal. During the Constantinescu regime, he was appointed as a deputy director in the Customs Directorate.

    Tudor Lica

    A former Securitate officer. In the summer of 2000, he was appointed as head of the department in charge of parallel intelligence offices in the SRI's Division "A."

    Dan Lungu

    A former Securitate officer. After December 1989, he was employed in the SRI's Buzau branch with the rank of captain. It is known that he has attempted to recruit a female journalist from the local daily Opinia.

    Vasile Lupu

    A former Securitate officer in the UM 0110. Quite inadequately, this unit was considered to be a structure meant to fight the KGB agents in Romania. In fact, the unit used to manufacture arguments, based on which the people who fell into Nicolae Ceausescu's disfavor were charged with spying for the Soviet Union. This method was meant to misinform public opinion, which was sensitive to any Russian threat. After the December 1989 events, he was recruited into the SRI's structures. In a short time, more precisely on 27 March 1994, he was appointed as head of the Counterintelligence Directorate. He was the SRI's first deputy director in two legislatures, under Virgil Magureanu and Costin Georgescu's mandates. Throughout this period, he made considerable efforts to strengthen the former Securitate officers' influence in all fields of political, economic, and social life. On 30 November 1999, he was promoted to Army Corps general. Much earlier, the media pointed out the fact that his successive promotions were the result of intervention by influential people whom he had kept under surveillance in the past. Most of them are important people in the state. Because he was unable to get rid of the specific methods of the UM 0110, he was involved in publicly launching the misinformation that the SRI's future director, Radu Timofte, was allegedly recruited by the KGB. He was passed into reserves as an Army Corps general.

    Victor Marcu

    A general in the reserves. He was an active staff member of the former Securitate and headed an office within the former Center for Foreign Intelligence. He was in charge of Romania's immigration problems. Then he was transferred to the Romanian Intelligence Service. For a short time, he was director Virgil Magureanu's first deputy. After he had a conflict with the latter, Marcu was removed from his position and from the SRI in 1995. He was charged with having business relations with Arab mafiosi. His records include the obscure coordination of the dubious deals developed by the SC Macons & Co SA Company, registered in Belgium. His daughter, Anca Steliana Marcu, was the company's main shareholder. However, he remained a reliable person at the Cotroceni [presidential] palace. At one point, with support from some obscure forces, he succeeded in setting up a customs checkpoint downtown Bucharest. He was to administer it together with his circle of friends. When the media exposed the illegal deal, the customs checkpoint vanished into thin air, as if it had never existed. After the November 2000 elections, Victor Marcu was appointed deputy minister in the Privatization Ministry. He held the position of undersecretary of state. Quite cautiously, he forwarded his resignation shortly before the emergence of the scandal around Sorin Ovidiu Vantu and the fraudulent deeds that were carried out to the detriment of the Astra Insurance Company.

    Marian Matei

    A former Securitate officer in the Military Academy's counterintelligence department. He is married to the former Communist leader Ion Dinca's niece. In December 1989, he was found armed in the PCR [Romanian Communist Party] CC's [Central Committee] headquarters. He was a lieutenant colonel at the time and was a member of the team appointed to protect the former dictator Ceausescu. On 24 March 1990, the SRI employed him after intervention by Mihai Stan. A short time later, he was promoted to brigadier general.

    Dumitru Mazilu

    A former Securitate officer, the former commanding officer at the Baneasa Securitate school from 1965-1967. He was removed from office following his attempt to counterfeit some documents related to a car accident. He was reoriented toward diplomacy. He also played the role of dissident. Immediately after December 1989, he emerged on the political scene as a vice president of the National Salvation Front's Council. In one of the confused days of January 1990, he climbed up on a tank and shouted what the civilians that had taken to the streets never did: "Death to the former Securitate officers!" After having committed himself in something that looked like a coup d'etat, he left for Switzerland for quite some time. He came back to Bucharest later, when people had already forgotten him. At the moment, he is the vice president of a UN commission.

    Virgil Magureanu

    The first head of the Romanian Intelligence Service, which was officially set up in March 1990. This body started to structure itself in the first days of that same year. In April 1992, journalist Ioan Itu published Magureanu's file. The latter was a former officer in the syntheses department of the Securitate's Foreign Intelligence Directorate [DIE]. In December 1995, Magureanu himself published his file as a former Securitate informant. Most probably, he had been warned that a major publication was about to do the same thing.

    Vasile Maierean

    A former Securitate Colonel. He was involved in culture and art problems. At the moment, he is working in the SIE. On 30 November 1999, he was promoted to brigadier general.

    Vasile Malureanu

    A colonel in the former Securitate's structures. A general in the current Romanian Intelligence Service's structures.

    Vlad Margineanu

    A former Securitate officer, the former head of the SRI's Brasov branch. He is one of the Romanian Discount Bank's [BRS] founders. The bank was deliberately brought to bankruptcy in 2002, after $17 million had disappeared from the Astra Insurance Company's account.

    Stefan Masu

    A former high-ranking Securitate officer. After the December 1989 events, he was briefly the deputy head of the SRI Prahova County's branch. Then he started to do businesses on his own. Among other things, he was one of the shareholders of the dubious SC Macons & Co. SA Company, registered in Belgium.

    Mecu

    A high-ranking Securitate officer recovered by the SRI. He was promoted to the rank of general. He is the commanding officer of the SRI's Bran Office.

    Teodor Melescanu

    According to statements by Mircea Raceanu, whom President Iliescu has recently granted an award, before 1989, Melescanu was a former Securitate officer under diplomatic cover. After the [December 1989] revolution, he was appointed foreign minister. Later on, he established the Alliance for Romania party [ApR], which he led to total disaster. He ran for president and lost.

    Ilie Merce

    A former Securitate colonel. He was the head of the art-culture department in the former Securitate's First Directorate. During 1985-1986, he led the Eterul Department, whose mission was to combat the foreign radio stations that used to broadcast in Romanian. Later, he was appointed head of the Securitate's Buzau County branch. After December 1989, he remained in the Romanian Intelligence Service. He was removed from office due to many inadequate deeds and to the open sabotage carried out against the body's leadership. He was passed into the reserves. He joined the Greater Romania Party, where he went up the hierarchy, until he became the party's first vice president. In the November 2000 elections, he ran on this party's slates. He was elected as an MP. Later, it was proved he had been involved in political police activities. At the moment, he is currently involved in a lawsuit filed by the victims of one of his deeds.

    Sever Mesca

    A former Securitate officer in the espionage department. He carried out missions in Italy and the United Kingdom. At the moment, after having been an important member of the Greater Romania Party, on whose slates he had been elected as an MP, he passed into the PSD's camp. He is currently engaged in an argument with the head of his former party.

    Iosif Mircea Miclea

    A former Securitate officer, currently a lieutenant colonel, the head of the SRI's Maramures County branch.

    Lionel Micu

    A former Securitate officer. After the December 1989 events, he vanished abroad. At the onset of 1999, he was expelled from Canada after being identified as "a member of the former Romanian Securitate and an accomplice to many atrocities."

    Mircea Miron

    A former Securitate officer. The SRI recovered him. He became the first head of the Alba Iulia office. An officer under his subordination sent intimidating letters to some opposition members' addresses.

    Victor Mitran

    A former Securitate officer in the espionage department. After he displayed abnormal behavior during a drill in Yugoslavia, he was subjected to a medical checkup. He was found to be suffering from paranoia. He was passed into the reserves. Immediately after December 1989, he was brought back to active service within the SRI. However, he damaged the service's image after he published a series of completely phantasmagoric information in the media. He also wrote a book full of completely stupid things. He continues to create confusion in the public opinion on various television shows.

    Ioan Mocan

    A former Securitate officer, currently the head of the SRI's Bistrita-Nasaud County branch.

    Cornel Moga

    A former Securitate officer. During Emil Constantinescu's regime, he was appointed as the head of the SRI Bihor County branch. A former political prisoner informed the media about the fact that Moga had conducted political police activities before 1989. He said the latter had searched and had even beaten him.

    Jean Moldoveanu

    A former Securitate officer, the former commanding officer of the Securitate troops. After the December 1989 events, he was the first head of the Romanian Police forces.

    Gheorghe Moldovan

    A former Securitate colonel who was recovered by the SRI. In the first half of the 1990s, he was appointed as the head of the SRI Maramures branch. He was removed from office for having wiretapped some UDMR [Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania -- RMDSZ] local leaders' phones. He claimed he had carried out this mission at Virgil Magureanu's order. However, he failed to provide the slightest evidence in this respect. He was sentenced, but his sentence was suspended.

    Ion Alexandru Munteanu

    A former Securitate officer within the Independent "D" [Misinformation] Service. After that, he was in charge of the surveillance of foreign students at the Bucharest University Center. It was found he had been involved in various onerous deals with them. He was demoted, sent to court, and sentenced to several years in prison. After the December 1989 events, he was released from prison. He went through a series of dubious promotions. A little more than two years later, he was promoted from the rank of a soldier to that of a general. He was appointed as general director of the State Archives. He was an important member of the Greater Romania Party. Deceased.

    Vasile Munteanu

    He is suspected of having been one of the former Securitate's undercover officers. The Romanian Intelligence Service took him over, too. As the head of the Otopeni cargo customs office, his duties also included ensuring the facilities requested by the special transports of commodities. He was involved in the Cigarette 2 smuggling deal.

    Constantin Muraru

    A former Securitate officer. Currently a colonel, the head of the SRI's Suceava County branch.

    Ionel Muresan

    A former high-ranking Securitate officer, recovered by the SRI with the rank of colonel. In 1998, he was leading the counterintelligence service of the department in which he had been employed.

    Victor Nacu

    A former Securitate officer, re-employed in the SRI's Bacau County branch. Not long ago he was transferred to the Bucharest head unit.

    Nicolae Nadejde

    A former colonel in the Securitate's espionage department. In 1983, he was appointed as the DIE's representative in a shadow company, Marsue Holding, meant to cover the activity carried out by some Romanian agents abroad. He retired in 1986 while holding the same position. After December 1989, he was compelled to transfer the money in the company's bank account to an SRL [limited responsibility company] company's bank account. He refused to do it. In 1993, the Foreign Intelligence Service filed charges against him for embezzlement of funds. The gesture was far from the espionage people's habits, which used to launder their dirty linen at home. Consequently, it remains to be seen what is hiding behind the Marsue deal.

    Victor Nanescu

    A former high-ranking officer in the Securitate's espionage department. He was kept in the system not too long after the 1996 elections. He was passed into the reserves with the rank of general.

    Toma Nastase

    A former Securitate colonel within the Independent "D" (Misinformation) Department. He was brought back into active service in the SRI for a short while. After that, he was passed into the reserves. He became an important member of the Greater Romania Party. From that position, he used the information obtained while he was in office in public life. Deceased.

    Grigore Neciu

    A former Securitate officer, [Communist] party secretary of the Cluj County Securitate Inspectorate. In 1998, he was the head of the UM 0215 in Cluj.

    Aurelian Neferoiu

    A former Securitate major, the deputy head of the Fifth Office in USLA. After December 1989, he was appointed general manager of the state office for the government's special problems. In 1997, he was Mircea Gheordunescu's deputy at the leadership of the National Agency for the Control on Strategic Exports and Chemical Weapons Ban [ANCESIAC].

    Misu Negritoiu

    According to the statements by Mircea Raceanu, whom President Ion Iliescu has recently granted an award, Negritoiu was an undercover Securitate officer. After 1989, he played an important role in the Romanian power structures.

    Andrei Nica

    A former Securitate officer, recovered by the SRI with the rank of lieutenant colonel. In 1994, he was a member of the "B" Counterintelligence Directorate's leadership.

    Nicolae M Nicolae

    A former undercover officer in the Foreign Intelligence Directorate. He was removed from that position following General Ion Mihai Pacepa's defection. He was a former foreign trade minister and Romania's ambassador to Washington during Nicolae Ceausescu's regime. In the first post-revolutionary Romanian Government, he returned to the leadership of Romania's foreign trade.

    Constantin Nicolescu

    A former officer in the Securitate's espionage department, currently a senator for Arges County. He is the chairman of the Parliament's SIE Oversight Committee.

    Dumitru Nicusor

    A former Securitate officer. In the SRI, he was the head of the Dobruja's Regional Operational Center. In 1994, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general.

    Carol Nihta

    A former Securitate officer. Currently a lieutenant colonel, the head of the SRI's Resita branch, Caras-Severin County.

    Ogasanu

    A former Securitate officer, re-employed by the SRI. With the rank of general, he led the SRI's Operation Center in Transylvania. After passing into the reserves, he became the director of the Gelsor branch in Oradea. He played an important role in the National Investment Fund's [FNI] collapse.

    Emil Olariu

    A former high-ranking Securitate officer, recovered by the SRI, with the rank of colonel. In 1998, he worked in the SRI's Harghita County branch.

    Otelea

    General Otelea's son, from the Steaua sports club. He was an officer in the Securitate's Fourth Directorate. At the moment, he is a colonel in the Army's General Directorate for Intelligence.

    Valerica Pamfil

    A former Securitate officer. In the SRI, he was appointed as office head in the Anti-terrorist Brigade with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was charged with influence peddling.

    Gheorghe Pasc

    He was a former Securitate major before 1989. Later, during Virgil Magureanu's mandate, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel and then to colonel. He was promoted as head of the "F" Division in the SRI, which used to store computer data and managed the institution's archives. Before the establishment of the National Council in Charge of Studying the Former Securitate Archives [CNSAS], a civil body that should be the same thing as the Gauck Institute in Germany, he retired due to health-related problems. He set up a security guard and protection company. In 1999, when the CNSAS was established, nobody knows what methods he used, but he succeeded in obtaining the exclusive right for his company to ensure the guarding and protection for the aforementioned council. At the CNSAS' headquarters, he installed various pieces of special equipment. Supposedly, many microphones controlled from outside are among these devices. Thus, those who reportedly have to study the former Securitate's behavior are still at the Securitate's mercy. All of their moves are allegedly being kept under control.

    Petre Pavel

    A former Securitate officer, taken over in the SRI's structures with rank of colonel. After having passed into the reserves, he helped manufacture a counterfeit commitment in the Division "S" laboratories, proving its author was as a former Securitate informant, to Senator Corneliu Vadim Tudor's detriment and to the benefit of Ziua.

    George Constantin Paunescu

    A former undercover Securitate officer. In this capacity, before 1989, he led the Romanian Economic Agency in Milan. He was and perhaps still is banned from entering Italy. The Italian special services know more about him than the SRI claims to know. He runs his operations in Italy via a branch in the Swiss canton of Ticino. In 1996, when he was subjected to some criminal investigations, he fled the country, at first to Switzerland, under the pretext of a medical treatment. Then he settled temporarily in the United States. From that position, he sponsored several of Ion Iliescu and Adrian Nastase's trips across the Atlantic Ocean, with the help of the lobbyist called the Eurasia Group, with a majority Russian capital.

    Petru Pele

    A former Securitate officer. In the SRI, he was appointed head of the SRI's Timisoara branch. He had a conflict with Virgil Magureanu. His file, which proved he was a former collaborator for the local Securitate, was made public. He was removed from the system and currently has dedicated himself to his businesses.

    Cornel Pentelie

    A former Securitate officer. He was later promoted to the rank of major within the SRI. His true name has the initials DM. He worked under General Dumitru Badescu, who was the head of the division in charge of economic counterintelligence. He was present in the unit that carried out the "Cigarette 2" smuggling operation. He was identified as such on the video recordings made at the airport.

    Corneliu Petre

    A former Securitate officer in the Third Directorate for Counterespionage. After December 1989, he was passed into the reserves. Later, he involved himself in various businesses with persons working for the Russian Lukoil Company.

    Stelian Pintilie

    A former Securitate General, appointed as the minister of postal services and telecommunications in the first government after December 1989. At the moment, he is running various businesses, also in the telecommunications field, along with STS head General Tudor Tanase. Among other things, he worked as a councilor to the Ericsson Company, which was among the main players involved in the scandal related to the Romanian Army's transmissions system.

    Ion Pinta

    A former Securitate officer. He was the first head of the SRI's Gorj County branch. He had the rank of colonel. He took part in the June 1990 miners' incursion. He directed the miners' travel to Bucharest. Later, he was employed in SRI's central unit in Bucharest. In May 2001, he had the same position, although the legal system's bodies were conducting an investigation against him. He was charged with undermining state power.

    Radu Podgoreanu

    A former Securitate general's son-in-law. At the moment, he is the chairman of the Chamber of Deputies' Foreign Policy Committee.

    Gabriel Polmolea

    A former Securitate officer in Brasov. The SRI took him over. At first, he was the deputy head of the SRI's Dolj County branch. When his superior was ousted, he was appointed leader of the branch. In June 1994, he was appointed head of the Oltenia Region's Operational Center.

    Dumitru Pop

    A former Securitate officer. In the SRI, with the rank of a colonel, he was appointed as the deputy head of the SRI's Cluj County branch. He was removed from office in July 1998.

    Viorel Pop

    A former Securitate officer, re-trained in the SRI with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was Gheorghe Moldovan's subordinate in the SRI's Maramures County branch. It has been reported he used to provide information from inside the service to the PUNR [Romanian National Unity Party].

    Ioan Popa

    A former officer in the Securitate's espionage department, re-trained in the SIE, with the rank of colonel. He headed the Directorate for Synthesis and Analysis for some time.

    Doru Popescu

    A former Securitate officer. After the December 1989 events, he fled abroad and disappeared. In early 1999, he was expelled from Canada after being identified as "a member of the former Romanian Securitate and an accomplice to many atrocities."

    Ion Popescu

    A former Securitate colonel. During his espionage-related activities in Paris, his mission was to compromise priest Vasile Boldeanu and to transfer the Romanian Christian Orthodox Church in France's capital under the Bucharest Patriarchy's authority. His mission failed. He was asked to return to Romania. He continued to work as an undercover officer. He was appointed as the head of the Department for Religious Cults. After December 1989, with support from some high-ranking clergy, with whom he had probably used to work, he set up the International Bank of Religions. The dubious sponsorships, along with the mismanagement of funds, have ultimately brought this bank's sonorous bankruptcy. Other former Securitate officers, tied to the incumbent ruling party, were also involved in this bankruptcy.

    Poporoaga

    A former low-ranking Securitate officer, recovered by the SRI, in the surveillance division. He fell into a trap on the occasion of the Anda Terrace scandal.

    Alexandru Constantin Postelnicu

    A former Securitate officer. After the December 1989 events, he was promoted to the rank of general and he was the first head of the SRI's Dolj County branch. He tried to recruit journalists from troublesome media circles in Craiova. The local media focused on his activities. It succeeded in taking his picture in a professional situation. He was removed from office. Obviously, he has started to run his own businesses.

    Ioan Preda

    A former Securitate officer. In the SRI, with the rank of colonel, he was appointed as head of the Constanta County branch.

    Ristea Priboi

    A former Securitate colonel. He was an active staff member of the UM 0199, which was a sub-unit of the espionage department, which dealt with European territory. Starting in May 1988, he was transferred to the UM 0225, another sub-unit dealing with espionage activities. This unit was involved in infiltrating Romanian immigrants in Europe and fighting the foreign radio stations that used to broadcast in Romanian. Some former Securitate officers say that, before 1989, he trained incumbent Romanian Prime Minister Adrian Nastase to place him in the West as an undercover agent. The operation was to take place in 1990. However, the December 1989 revolution triggered the project's cancellation. Later, Ristea Priboi became Adrian Nastase's aide. Allegations say he is very close to the prime minister. Following the November 2000 elections, Adrian Nastase tried to impose Priboi as the head of the Parliament's SIE Oversight Committee. The deal failed, following the forceful intervention by the media, which had managed to find a few facts about Ristea Priboi's past. He remained Adrian Nastase's aide. From his position, he makes it easier for other former Securitate officers to enter the ruling party's structures and, implicitly, the state bodies. In December 2000, Ristea Priboi was imposed as a member of the administrative board of the SIF [Financial Investment Company] Oltenia. This allowed him to control the economic activities carried out in one of the country's important regions, in collaboration with another former Securitate officer, Dinut Staicu. A group of former Securitate officers has recently forwarded to the major media's editorial offices, to some parties, and institutions' headquarters, a letter that states that his former comrades also dislike Ristea Priboi. This letter calls the character with the comradely name "Pig!" We also happen to be familiar with some things about how Ristea Priboi plots against the incumbent prime minister's political opponents. It is impossible to explain how a cultivated person, with an education achieved in normal conditions, with masters and doctoral degrees, who has often traveled to Western countries and speaks several foreign languages, like Nastase, can bear to have such an aide close to him.

    Dumitru Prichici

    A former officer in the State Securitate Department's technical divisions. After December 1989, as an associate of the Zenith Trading Consulting Company, he illegally manufactured and traded devices for wiretapping phones. He involved his son, Codrut Prichici, in these activities, too. In the fall of 1997, after having exposed himself at a television station, he was sent to court. He was charged with violating the National Security Law.

    Florin Radu

    A former Securitate officer, recovered by the SRI with the rank of major. After having passed into the reserves, he launched himself in business. In 1997, he was subjected to an investigation for outstanding debts incurred by a bank loan. In 1998, the Democratic Party [PD] nominated him to be appointed as the head of the Financial Oversight Body in Buzau County.

    Nicolae Radu

    A former Securitate officer. He was taken over by the SRI with the rank of colonel. He led the SRI's Galati County branch. In the spring of 1994, he was transferred to Bucharest and promoted both to a higher position and to a higher rank.

    Niculae Radu

    A former Securitate officer, he was re-trained in the SRI. He was appointed as the head of the counterespionage office at the SRI's Botosani County branch. He was removed from office for alleged involvement in the deals carried out by some dubious companies in that county.

    Ion Raita

    A former Security major, recovered by the SRI. At the onset of the 1990s, he was appointed as the head of the SRI's office in Sinaia. He was passed into the reserves following the protests voiced by those who had been subjected to his investigations before December 1989. In 1992, he ran for mayor of Sinaia as an independent candidate.

    Stefan Ramfu

    A former Securitate colonel, employed in the Independent Misinformation Department. Among other things, he used to launch some fake stories abroad. According to them, some dissidents that could not be kept in the country anymore had allegedly been among the former Securitate's agents. Mathematician Mihai Botez was one of the persons who was subjected to this despicable treatment. At the moment, Ramfu is delivering expert training at the National Intelligence Institute.

    Gheorghe Ratiu

    A former Securitate colonel, the former head of the Securitate's First Directorate in charge of domestic intelligence during 1986-1989. Immediately after the December 1989 revolution, he left Romania and went abroad. He went to West Germany and returned to Romania from... China after things settled down a little bit. At the moment, he is one of businessman Sorin Ovidiu Vantu's most important councilors.

    Marian Rizea

    A former Securitate officer. He was later recruited to the SRI's structures. He led the SRI's Dambovita County branch.

    Aurel Rogojanu

    A former Securitate colonel, the former head of General Iulian Vlad's secretarial office. The latter was the head of the State Security's Directorate. When he retired from the SRI, he published a book that justifies the former Securitate's actions. At the moment, he is SRI Director Radu Timofte's aide.

    Viorel Ros

    A former Securitate officer, he graduated from the Baneasa School for active staff members of the Interior Ministry. He worked for the UM 0279 as an expert in foreign intelligence. Starting in 1979, when he was passed into the reserves, he worked in the legal system. In 1993, he was appointed as chairman of the Bucharest Court of Justice.

    Constantin Rotaru

    A former Securitate colonel, currently a general, the deputy director of the Foreign Intelligence Service. Before December 1989, he was the deputy director at the ICE [foreign trade company] Dunarea. He remained in that positions in the early 1990s, too. He left the system temporarily. He led the Intact media trust. He has a close collaboration with businessman Dan Voiculescu [owner of the Antena 1 private television station] at the moment. The latter was the endorser of the Crescent Company, another one of the former Securitate companies, with its headquarters Cyprus. In fact, according to the information published by the media, through General Constantin Rotaru, the SIE manages and grants protection to several of Dan Voiculescu's companies.

    Cornel Rudareanu

    A former Securitate colonel. At the moment, he is one of businessman Sorin Ovidiu Vantu's advisers.

    Valer Rus

    The former head of the SRI's Turda branch. He is an expert in irredentism-related matters. The SRI took him over in its structures with the rank of Colonel, as an expert in the problems of ethnic minorities. In 1998, he was the head of the SPP's [Guard and Protection Service] structure in Transylvania.

    Rusan

    A former high-ranking Securitate officer, recovered by the SRI, with the rank of colonel. Before December 1989, he used to work hand in hand with General Vasile Lupu, who took Rusan with him. In the mid-1990s, Colonel Rusan was appointed head of the Surveillance Directorate.

    Ion Rusu

    Alias Ion Prigoreanu. A former Securitate major. He was a French teacher at the Interior Ministry's school for active officers at Baneasa. In the years before December 1989, he worked as an undercover agent, as an employee of the Agerpres news agency. Immediately after December 1989, he was appointed as a general secretary of Zig Zag magazine's editorial office (the Ion Cristoiu series). At present he teaches French at a Bucharest high school, after having earned his doctorate on the basis of articles written by other people.

    Vasile Rusu

    A former high-ranking officer in the Securitate's espionage department. After December 1989, he continued to work within the SIE. In March 1998, after being promoted to the rank of brigadier general, he was passed into the reserves.

    Ion Savonea

    A former Securitate first lieutenant in Sinaia. During the first months of 1990, he was involved in the violation of the local Securitate archives' seals.

    Ion Sabareanu

    A former Securitate officer. In the SRI, he was appointed deputy head of the antiterrorist Brigade, with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was charged with influence peddling.

    Cornel Satmareanu

    A former officer in the former Securitate military counter-espionage and counter-intelligence departments (Third and Fourth Directorates, respectively). He was passed into the reserves in 1991. However, he was kept in the structures parallel to the active structures. In 1999, he was asked to testify as a defense witness in the lawsuit filed by former President Emil Constantinescu against Andrei Zeno. The latter accused the head of state of being a foreign power's alleged agent.

    Vasile Secares

    According to statements by Mircea Raceanu, whom President Ion Iliescu has recently granted an award, Secares was an undercover Securitate officer before 1989. He was a member of the teaching staff at the [former] "Stefan Gheorghiu" [only for party members in leading communist structures] Academy. After the December 1989 Revolution, he became an important member of the innovative group "A Future for Romania." At present, he is the rector of the Academy for Political and Administrative Sciences. This is also some kind of "Stefan Gheorghiu," but with a different shape.

    Constantin Silinescu

    A former Securitate colonel. He was an operative agent abroad during 1974-1984. He was an office head in the communist espionage department. After December 1989, he was kept in the system. He was promoted to general. He was promoted to be deputy director of the Foreign Intelligence Service. He collaborated with General Florentin Popa in operations involving arms trafficking. Following a conflict with General Ioan Talpes, the SIE director, he was passed into the reserves. After the 2000 elections, he became one of Prime Minister Adrian Nastase's aides. He currently holds the same position.

    Ion Tomita Sima

    A former Securitate officer. He was a colonel, with a PhD in engineering, in the Special Telecommunications Service. On 30 November 1999, he was promoted to brigadier general.

    Tiberiu Simon

    A former Securitate officer. He is currently a lieutenant colonel and the head of the SRI's Bacau County branch.

    Ovidiu Soare

    A former Securitate officer within the Fifth Directorate, which dealt with ensuring the guard and protection of former Communist dignitaries. He ensured Nicu Ceausescu's protection and guard and then that of Alexandrina Gainuse. During the December 1989 events, he sought refuge in the Militia's Section 1. At present, he is the head of the SRI's "A" Division.

    Vlad Soare

    A former Securitate undercover officer in the Romanian Bank for Foreign Trade [Bancorex]. He contributed to the bank's bankruptcy after December 1989. At present, he is the chairman of the Gelsor financial group, which is the property of businessman Sorin Ovidiu Vantu.

    Sobolu

    A former officer in the Securitate's Fourth Directorate. He is currently a colonel and an office head in the Army's General Directorate for Intelligence.

    George Sotir

    A former officer in the Securitate's Fourth Directorate. At present, he is a colonel and the head of the Air Forces service in the Army's General Directorate for Intelligence.

    Ilie Suba

    A former Securitate officer in the Bucharest Municipality's branch. He was an expert in youth- and student-related problems. After the December 1989 events, he went vanished. He returned to public life in April 1990 as an SRI officer. He led the Antiterrorist Brigade. He was an adviser to Senator Sergiu Nicolaescu's parliamentary commission, which dealt with the investigation of the December 1989 events. In 1997, he passed into the reserves. Later, he was appointed as head of the Protocol Department and staff's protection at the World Trade Center.

    Dinel Staicu

    A former Securitate officer in the Dolj County inspectorate. After December 1989, to cover up his deeds, he developed some businesses that were not too legal in Hunedoara County. He took advantage of that county's status as a disadvantaged area. When things calmed down a little, he returned to Craiova. He played a significant role in the International Bank of Religions' bankruptcy. At present, he controls SIF Oltenia through various intermediaries. He is closely tied to businessman Sorin Ovidiu Vantu and to Ristea Priboi, Prime Minister Adrian Nastase's aide.

    Laurentiu Stamatescu

    A former Securitate major in the counterintelligence department in Covasna County. During the events in December 1989, he was involved in the deadly shooting of engineer Gheorghe Suiu. Later, he was recruited by the Romanian Intelligence Service. He was promoted to the rank of colonel and to the position of head of the Covasna County branch.

    Gelu Stan

    A former Securitate officer, who dealt with religious cult-related problems. In 1998, he was secretary of the Cluj branch of the [former] National Romanian Party [PNR], chaired by Virgil Magureanu.

    Mihai Stan

    A former Securitate colonel in the Independent Misinformation Department. After December 1989, he became SRI Director Virgil Magureanu's deputy. He was promoted to general. Following the Berevoiesti deal, he was removed from office. This scandal involved the mismanagement of the transportation of some documents belonging to the former Securitate. He was then appointed head of the Directorate for International Relationships in the Private Ownership Fund. Soon afterward, he was appointed head of the Center for Operational Documentation of the Guard and Protection Service. He was again removed from office against the backdrop of the scandal triggered by the Cigarette 2 state smuggling operation. At present, he is nothing less than the general director at the... Organization for Human Rights Protection in Romania.

    Ion Stanescu

    A former Securitate officer, currently a lieutenant colonel and head of the SRI's Ploiesti branch.

    Ion Stoica

    A former Securitate colonel. Before 1989, he worked in the Securitate's Bucharest Municipality branch. After 1989, he was reintegrated into the SRI. To lose any trace of him, he was transferred to the position of head of the SRI's Dambovita County branch. When things calmed down a little, he was invited back to Bucharest. When Virgil Magureanu was replaced, he retired. He was immediately hired to become an aide to Adrian Nastase, whose party was in opposition at the time. After the November 2000 elections, he kept the same position. In parallel, he was the head of the domestic protection department at the International Bank of Religions. A gang of former Securitate officers brought the bank to bankruptcy. When Adrian Nastase was appointed as the country's prime minister, Stoica was honored with the position of deputy general director of the Romanian customs system.

    Ion Sandru

    A former Securitate colonel employed by the Romanian Intelligence Service after 1989. In 1997, he was passed into the reserves. He is considered to be a member of Mircea Gheordunescu's entourage, one of the SRI's deputy directors. After having passed into the reserves, he was appointed head of the legal office at the International Bank of Religions [BIR]. Another former Securitate officer, Colonel Ion Popescu established and chaired this bank. The depositors' savings were wasted. The bank went bankrupt in 2000. Later, on behalf of Mircea Gheordunescu, he was also involved in the privatization process of the Bucharest Hotel. He acted to the detriment of many honest investors and to the benefit of a genuine mafiosi ring made up of financial frauds. Later, he was appointed as a legal expert and an AGA [Shareholders' General Assembly] secretary at the SC Bucharest-Turism SA.

    Constantin Serban

    A former Securitate officer from the UM 0110. After that, the SRI incorporated him into its structures. Until the spring of 1998, he was head of the SRI's Targu Mures branch. At that time, he entered the reserves with the rank of colonel. He was brought back to active service in 1998, when he was appointed as the head of the SRI's Cluj County branch.

    Bebe Serbanescu

    A former Securitate officer, re-employed in the SRI's structures. He is Dinel Staicu's godson. When he gave up his job, he started to import listening and recording devices from abroad, used in his godfather's dubious connections in Craiova.

    Ion Serbanoiu

    A former higher-ranking Securitate officer. He was a general, the head of the Cluj County's Securitate Inspectorate. After the December 1989 events, he was in charge of the guard and protection system at the Dacia Felix Bank, which was soon brought to bankruptcy.

    Alexandru Somlea

    A former Securitate officer, restored by the SRI with the rank of colonel. After having passed into the reserves, he became the co-owner of a company in the Civic Center.

    Marian Stefan

    A former Securitate officer. Currently a colonel, the head of the SRI's Timisoara branch.

    Ion Manole Stefanut

    A former Securitate officer, recovered by the SRI. On 30 November 1999, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general.

    Ion Stirbu

    A former Securitate officer. Before December 1989, he was a member of the team that ensured Nicolae Ceausescu's guard. He was passed into the reserves with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was appointed deputy director at the Galati customs office. In the spring of 1994, he was brought back to active service. He was employed as the head of the SRI's Galati County branch.

    Tudor Tanase

    During 1976-1978, he was an officer in the Foreign Intelligence Directorate. During 1978-1989, he worked in the Special Unit "R" in the State Security Directorate. In 1993, Nicolae Vacaroiu's government re-employed him in the Special Telecommunications Service. He involved himself in many private deals, based on obscure funds, together with former Securitate General Stelian Pintilie. In May 2001, although his participation in companies with similar objects of activity had not yet been wound up, he was appointed as head of the Special Telecommunications Service, with the rank of general. The incumbent government did not take into account any of the warning signals sent by the media.

    Alexandru Tanasescu

    A former Securitate General, passed into the reserves in 1999. He was an active officer in the former Directorate for Foreign Intelligence. He carried out several missions abroad for the aforementioned body, mainly in the United States. After December 1989, he was kept in the Foreign Intelligence Service's structure. He went up the hierarchy, until he was appointed its first deputy director. He was the topic of frequent media campaigns. He was removed from the espionage service in 2000. Later, he was appointed as an adviser to the director of the Aedificia Carpati construction trust. This trust had built the SIE's current headquarters in Baneasa. Its director, Petre Badea, owed Alexandru Tanasescu a few favors, because his company had been favored in the bid. We would like to point out the fact that the Aedificia Carpati construction trust, with the help of some other former Securitate officers, has benefited and continues to benefit from important orders from the state. We may list the National Library, the consolidation works of the Telephones' Palace, the Special Telecommunications System's headquarters, the repair works at the Royal Palace, and so forth. Everybody kept taking from Petre Badea until they led him to the verge of bankruptcy.

    Ion Tanasoiu

    A former undercover Securitate officer. He acted mainly in the Benelux region. Through his children, Oana and Nineta, he was involved in the SC Macons & Co SA's dubious deals, a company that was registered in Belgium.

    Razvan Temesan

    A former undercover Securitate officer at the Romanian Bank for Foreign Trade. After December 1989, he was appointed as the bank's director. He remained in that position until he led the bank to bankruptcy. Although he was brought to court and was held in preventive custody, he succeeded in getting off scot-free. At present, it should be noted that he is deeply involved in Sorin Ovidiu Vantu's deals, in his capacity as an adviser to the much-contested Romanian Discount Bank. He has been recently proposed to be appointed as a manager at the Romanian Commercial Bank. It is desirable that he would fail to bring this bank to bankruptcy, too, to make us privatize it at the cost of one euro.

    Teodor

    A former officer in the former Securitate's Fourth Directorate. At present, he is a colonel. He is the deputy office head within the Army's General Directorate for Intelligence.

    Aurel Teodorescu

    A former Securitate officer in Bucharest. After December 1989, he worked as a commissioner in the Financial Oversight Body, as head of a department in the Bucharest City Hall, and then as a deputy director at the Customs General Directorate. The media paid attention to him because he favored dubious cigarette shipments.

    Teslovan

    A former Securitate officer, recovered by the SRI with the rank of colonel. In 1998, he worked in the SRI's Harghita County branch.

    Tinca

    A former high-ranking Securitate officer, recovered by the SRI. He led the Oradea Regional Operational Center.

    Tinca

    A former low-ranking Securitate officer recovered by the SRI in the Surveillance Department. He fell into the trap during the Anda Terrace scandal.

    Gheorghe Tinca

    According the statements by Mircea Raceanu, whom President Ion Iliescu has recently granted an award, Tinca was a former Securitate officer who worked undercover in the Foreign Ministry. At the onset of the 1980s, the United States refused to grant him an entry visa. In 1994, he was appointed defense minister. Later, he joined the ApR, Teodor Melescanu's bankrupt political party. At present, he is Romania's ambassador in Prague.

    Radu Tinu

    A former Securitate major, deputy head of the Timis County's Securitate Inspectorate. He was in charge of the misinformation and counterespionage departments. He was arrested in December 1989. He was subjected to an investigation as a member of the Timisoara lot. After a little more than two years, he was released from prison due to a lack of evidence. Along with Valentin Ciuca, he set up the Tival Impex SRL Company, which thrived during the embargo against Yugoslavia. Although he declared he would not want the return of the communism, all of his published statements speak extremely highly of the former Securitate.

    Maria Tiriboi

    A former Securitate officer. She was in charge of surveillance at the Institute for Research and Technological Design for Transportation Activities. She returned to the institution in 1992, this time as an SRI officer.

    Gheorghe Toader

    A former officer in the Securitate's espionage department. Under Ioan Talpes' mandate, he was the SIE's deputy director. In December 1994, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general. He was passed into the reserves on 3 April 2000.

    Constantin Toma

    A former high-ranking Securitate officer. The SRI recovered him. He was the deputy head of the SRI's Bacau branch and then its acting head. He was appointed as such in January 1998.

    Alexandru Tonescu

    A former high-ranking Securitate officer. At present, he is a general and a member of the SRI's central leadership.

    Ioan Trifu

    A former Securitate officer. Until January 2002, he led the SRI's Bistrita-Nasaud County branch.

    Alin Vivian Tudose

    A former Securitate colonel in the Second Directorate in charge of economic counterintelligence. No evidence proves he had been re-trained in the SRI. However, in the fall of 1999, he published in the media the information that Radu Campeanu [liberal politician, former presidential candidate in 1990] used to work for the former Securitate. This kind of misinformation is not sent to the public at random. This kind of activity is carried out in an organized framework. It also depends on the SRI's Securitate-oriented leadership's momentary interests.

    Romica Turcanu

    A former Securitate officer. Immediately after the December 1989 events, the SRI recovered him with the rank of colonel. He was appointed as head of the SRI's Botosani County branch. He was removed from office following his involvement in the financial pyramid scheme Caritas.

    Olimpian Ungherea

    A former Securitate officer. At first, he worked in the Craiova Inspectorate. He was transferred to Bucharest, where he was in charge of the Interior Ministry's Pentru Patrie magazine. He wrote thrillers. After December 1989, he was appointed as the PDSR's media councilor. He was the vice president of the PDSR's Sector 3 Bucharest branch. In 1997, at a signal from behind the scenes, he forwarded his resignation in a boisterous manner. He also wrote a book in which he mocked Ion Iliescu.

    Marian Ureche

    A former Securitate colonel. He is the former deputy head of the First Directorate in charge of domestic intelligence. He was involved in activities aimed at combating the foreign radio stations that used to broadcast in Romanian. When he retired from the SRI, he collaborated on a book that contains extremely high praise for the former Securitate. Following the 2000 elections, he was appointed head of the Independent Department for Protection and is in charge of the fight against corruption in the Justice Ministry.

    Gavrila Valean

    He is a former officer in the Securitate's Foreign Intelligence Directorate. At present, he is a member of the SC Alliancecoop's leadership. During 1995-1996, the Army's Procurement Department contacted him to facilitate some dubious arms exports.

    Constantin Valceanu

    A former Securitate officer. He was an expert in arms exports. In 1997, he was appointed as Mircea Gheordunescu's deputy in the leadership of the National Agency for the Control of Strategic Exports and Chemical Weapons Ban. Later, he was appointed as general director of the Pro Romania Consulting Company.

    Victor Veliscu

    He is a former Securitate officer who passed into the reserves after December 1989. At present he is SRI Director Radu Timofte's main aide. The latter is a former Border Guard officer who does not have any expertise in the field of intelligence. In Timofte's name, Victor Veliscu does and undoes everything in the SRI. He acts to the former Securitate officer's constant benefit, to the detriment of those who graduated from the National Intelligence Institute. Victor Veliscu is known for his extremely close ties with Sorin Ovidiu Vantu, a businessman who is expert in fraudulent operations and who has spread his tentacles over the entire Romanian financial-banking sector. Veliscu has also worked for the latter for a number of years.

    Gheorghe Vicol

    A former Securitate officer. In 1998, he was the head of the SRI's Onesti branch, in Bacau County.

    Mihai Vidican

    A former Securitate officer. After December 1989, he was employed in the SRI's structures at the Timisoara branch office. Following a scandal related to the collection of some signatures in favor of Viorel Salagean's candidacy for president, he retired. The SRI's branches in Transylvania also took part in that difficult task.

    Florin Viisoreanu

    A former Securitate officer in Giurgiu. Following the December 1989 events, he was transferred to the SRI's office in the town of Alexandria. He is a typical example of the changes performed at the former Securitate's staff level to lose track of some officers who had been previously involved in despicable activities.

    Tanase Vizitiu

    A former Securitate officer. After the December 1989 events, he was recruited into the SRI's Antiterrorist Brigade, in its troops deployed at the Otopeni International Airport. In 1992, it was discovered he used to deliver job-related information to the Europa magazine, edited by Ilie Neacsu. The latter used to be a PRM MP until not long ago. He has recently joined the PSD.

    Dan Vladu

    A former Securitate officer. In the SRI, he was appointed head of the counterespionage department in the Constanta County branch. In the spring of 2000, he made himself obvious because he conducted surveillance on the PDSR staff members who were visiting the locality.

    Teodor Vlaicu

    A former high ranking Securitate officer. The SRI recovered him with the rank of colonel. Before December 1989, he led the counterintelligence department in Cluj. He was assigned the same mission for the entire Transylvania area after the establishment of the SRI. His son was employed at the SRI's Cluj branch, even though he did not have the training needed for this job.

    Ioan Vladut

    A former Securitate officer. He was among the first commanding officers of the SRI's Oltenia Regional Operational Center. He had the rank of lieutenant colonel.

    Ilie Vranceanu

    A former Securitate officer. He is the former head of the National Investment Fund in Bistrita County. Sorin Ovidiu Vantu brought the fund to bankruptcy because he fraudulently appropriated most of the 300,000 depositors' money.

    Ion Zahiu

    A former Securitate officer. After the December 1989 events, he was recruited into the SRI's structures. He was promoted to the rank of colonel and to the position of head of the SRI's Buzau County branch. After having passed into the reserves, he was employed as the director of the DHL branch in Romania.

    Dumitru Zamfir

    A former Securitate colonel, at present an SRI general. He is the head of the department that also deals with wiretapping phone conversations. On 30 November 1999 he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general. Those who know him say he reportedly got rich due by embezzling funds from the SRI's budget.

    Grigore Zagarin

    A former Securitate officer. The SRI took him over in its structures. He was promoted to the rank of colonel and then to brigadier general. He has recently retired from the position of head of the counterespionage division.

    Andrei Zeno

    A former Securitate officer. After December 1989, he was passed into the reserves. Under Emil Constantinescu's presidential mandate, he accused the head of state of having allegedly been the agent of a foreign power. The PRM has managed his declarations in such a manner to make them generate an extremely sonorous scandal. Andrei Zeno was sentenced, but his sentence was suspended. He was elected a PRM MP. Deceased.

[Description of Source: Bucharest Ziua in Romanian -- popular, privately owned daily; generally critical of the political establishment across the board]