site.btaWanted Former Romanian Minister Udrea Remanded in Custody by Bulgarian Court

The court in Blagoevgrad said that it has ordered former Romanian minister Elena Gabriela Udrea remanded in custody.  

Udrea, who was minister of regional development and tourism from 2009 to 2012, was detained by Bulgarian border police near the border with Greece last Thursday, who were acting on an urgent request from the Romanian police to halt a vehicle entering Bulgaria. 

In Romania Udrea is under a six years' prison sentence for accepting over 12 million Romanian lei and 1.1 million euro in bribes from several companies for a series of actions intended to obtain an undue benefit. 

 As requested by the Romanian authorities, she was detained for 24 hours to prevent her from leaving the country or absconding. Udrea was subsequently detained for 72 hours on a prosecutor's warrant, pending the Blagoevgrad court's motion to order her indefinite remand.