Why was Florian Bodog acquitted and why was Liviu Dragnea convicted, even though the cases were similar: The explanations of the ICCJ

Florian Bodog, former Minister of Health, has been definitively acquitted in the case where he was accused of the fictitious hiring of his advisor, Olivia Andreea Marcu, the High Court of Cassation and Justice explaining that she would have performed the activity for which she was paid, that of medical statistician, even though she did not physically present at work, according to the reasoning of the decision, writes G4Media. This point differs from a similar case, which ended with a definitive conviction, that of Liviu Dragnea.

We mention that the High Court has maintained the precautionary seizure on the civil side of the case, which will be analyzed separately.

The judges decided that, although the advisor was not present daily at the ministry, she performed relevant activities in accordance with the job description. The court emphasized that criminal law punishes concrete damages, not the way work is organized. Furthermore, remote work is legally acceptable, as long as there is evidence of task fulfillment.

This, unlike the Liviu Dragnea case, where no activities were performed, in the Bodog case, concrete activities were confirmed. Bodog explained that the advisor's expertise was essential for the price analyses in the health sector.

According to the court, the former PSD leader, Liviu Dragnea, was sentenced to a 3 and a half year prison term for the fictitious hiring of two people at the Teleorman Child Protection, who did not come to work, nor did they perform any activity, but only collected salaries.