Philip H. Bloom, Bogdan Baltazarâs associate in a consulting company that is also involved in the BCR privatization, has been arrested in the USA. He is accused of multiple serious crimes, which includes bribery of approximately 700,000 US dollars for obtaining contracts in Iraq.
Partner of Bogdan Baltazar at the Baltazar, Bloom&Parvulescu company, he was arrested on the Newark International Airport in New Jersey for bribery. According to certain Governmental statements, he is accused of bribing the American officials of the Temporary Authority of the Coalition with more than 630,000 US dollars with the purpose of obtaining contracts regarding the reconstruction of Iraq. The incriminatory statement does not specify the total value of the contracts given to Bloomâs company, but it shows that, at least for the first half of last year, they got contracts with a value of more than 3.5 million US dollars. The list of accusations continues with: conspiracy, electronic transactions fraud, conspiracy regarding money laundry and interstate shipment of stolen goods. According to the American authorities, this would be the first case of corruption regarding the contracts for the reconstruction of Iraq. The complaint, made public by the district Court in Washington, also refers to two accomplices, whose names havenât been made public, who are representatives of the Temporary Authority of the Coalition - the American administration that governed Iraq in the period in which the contracts have been given, at the beginning of 2004. The two are officials that, together with their husbands or wives, have been bribed in order to give the contracts.
INTERESTS. The contracts in discussion donât have any connections to any Romanian company, according to Baltazar, the president of the Baltazar, Bloom&Parvulescu, where the three partners have equal shares. In his opinion
