The Bucharest Court of Appeal granted on Wednesday the appeal filed by DIICOT and ordered the extension of the pre-trial detention for Calin Georgescu by 30 days.

Georgescu's accomplice, Ionel Rusen, also remains in pre-trial detention.

The ruling is final.

The former presidential candidate was brought to the courthouse around 5:00 PM, while several hundred of his supporters occupied the steps outside the building; some even managed to enter the premises, chanting slogans in front of the courtroom—even though the hearing was not open to the public. The hearing lasted approximately an hour and a half, after which Georgescu was taken back to the Central Detention Center to await the judges' verdict.

The judicial panel consisted of magistrates Andrei Buliga and Dragos Mirea. The latter was also a member of the panel that issued the arrest warrant for Calin Georgescu on September 29.

The decision had to be delivered today, given that the arrest warrant was set to expire at midnight on Wednesday.

Two days ago, Judge Eduard Claudiu Corobana of the Bucharest Court rejected, as unfounded, a request by DIICOT to extend Calin Georgescu's pre-trial detention by 30 days. The case involves allegations that the former presidential candidate defrauded a businessman of 1.1 million euros.

At that time, the judge also ordered that pre-trial detention be replaced with judicial control for a period of 60 days. The same decision was made regarding businessman Ionel Rusen.

Essentially, the magistrate concluded that the prosecutors had failed to provide new evidence to justify keeping Georgescu in custody.

DIICOT appealed the decision to the Bucharest Court of Appeal, which ordered the extension of the arrest warrant by 30 days. The investigation into this case began following a complaint filed by businessman Razvan Leu. He had been invited to participate in a business venture involving precious metal transactions, which required a credit line amounting to 6 million euros. Georgescu allegedly recommended that Razvan Leu get in touch with a trusted associate, Ionel Rusen, who in turn introduced him to an Italian national, Massimiliano Arena, purportedly a representative of a Swiss bank.

To secure the credit, Razvan Leu was asked to pay a 1 million euro deposit, 100,000 euros of which was intended to fund Georgescu's presidential campaign.

The victim was subsequently persuaded to transfer an additional 100,000 euros, with the promise that the loan amount could be increased to 15 million euros. The loan never materialized, and the businessman from Buzau demanded the return of the full 1.1 million euro deposit, but he never received his money back.

Following his arrest, Calin Georgescu became the subject of two additional criminal cases.

Specifically, on October 21, he was charged by DIICOT for allegedly asking a man to scan his villa in Mogosoaia to determine whether any recording devices had been planted in the house by investigators. The following day, October 22, Calin Georgescu was questioned at the Central Detention Center in connection with another case opened by prosecutors from the Prosecutor's Office with the Buftea District Court; in this case, he is accused of having performed the 'legionary salute' while exiting a church in Buftea, at a time when he was subject to judicial control. AGERPRES(RO - writing by: Eusebi Manolache; EN - writing by: Bogdan Gabaroi)