Former Romanian Mayor Jailed For Land Swindle

The Court of Appeal in Bucharest on Friday jailed Cristian Poteras, the former mayor of the city's District 6, for eight years without parole.

Poteras was found guilty of abuse of office in a case related to illegal real estate transactions in the capital involving land seized by Romania's former Communist regime.

The court ruled that in 2006, Poteras granted six land ownership titles to people who were not legally entitled to claim that it had been theirs before it was taken by the Communist authorities.

The land has a market value of some 58 million euro.

Six other public officials were given jail sentences in the same case.

Romania is still considered one of the most corrupt states in the European Union and has made only limited progress in fighting corruption and organised crime since joining the EU in 2007.

In recent years, the number of high-ranking officials sentenced for graft has increased significantly. The anti-corruption prosecutor's office says around 30 actual or former members of parliament have either been convicted or are currently on trial for corruption-related offences.

More than 100 mayors and vice-mayors are also on trial for awarding public contracts to relatives and friends, or for similar abuses.