Adrian Nastase: The Rock Star’s Fall From Grace
If Adrian Nastase were a rock star, he would be a white, posh, affluent guy who starts off with all the necessary connections to make it big. Once he does, he pretends he’s “just one of you guys” and that fame won’t change him, while casually mentioning his gold records to get the best tables in exclusive restaurants. Now, nobody really cares if you put on airs while you make good music. However, the moment your talent or commitment to your fans falters, you’re in for a quick fall from grace. A lesson that Nastase has learnt in due time.
Early life
As far as privilege goes, Adrian Nastase has had a whole lot going for him. He was born in Bucharest into an educated, well-off family that was part of the Communist elite. His father was a member of the party and a director in the Ministry for Education, which is why at some point the family moved to Primaverii neighbourhood — one of the city’s most expensive areas, then and now. He went on to graduate from the University of Law and the University of Sociology, and worked as a law professor, a judge, and the president of various law and international relations organisations. His second wife, Dana Miculescu, was also the daughter of a former minister and deputy prime minister in Socialist Romania.
Road to fame
After the 1989 Revolution, Nastase made his debut in the lower chamber of Parliament, before joining the government as Minister of Foreign Affairs — a role held between 1990–1992. In 1992 he was named the President of the Chamber of Deputies. His own band, the Social Democracy Party in Romania (PDSR) — later PSD — chose him as its executive president (1993–1997) and its president (2000–2005).
He reached proper fame as Romania’s prime minister between 2000–2004. His four-year tour was marked by rife corruption in Romania, eroding press freedom, as well as by improving living standards, political stability and a western-focused foreign policy. During that time, Romania joined NATO and sent troops to the Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq, several state companies were partly or wholly privatised, and negotiations for Romania joining the European Union were also finalised (Romania officially joined the EU in 2007).
Soon enough, Nastase set his sights on the most coveted prize in the country: The Presidency. Since Ion Iliescu, a long-time recipient of the prize, was prevented by the Constitution to run another time, Nastase entered the race as PSD’s candidate. He was up against Traian Basescu, the Liberal Democratic Party’s (PDL) choice, a former sailor and salt-of-the-earth politician that was Nastase’s polar opposite. Although the polls had indicated otherwise, Basescu eventually won in a landslide, with 51.33% of the votes.
The wind of change
Nastase’s troubles with his fans began in 2005, when his mask slipped off. Declaring ones assets and their value became mandatory for politicians. This is how a virtually unknown relative of Daniela Nastase, Adrian Nastase’s wife, became a star overnight after she seemed to have left the Nastases a $400,000 inheritance, even though she had a modest income. He was predictably called out for this, but not as you would expect.
In 2000, Ioan Melinescu, a manager at the National Office for the Prevention and Control of Money Laundering (ONPCSB), informed the politician (back then a member of Parliament) that at ONPCSB there was an open case targeting Daniela Nastase. She had deposited $400,000 in instalments of $10,000 in the same day in a bank account. Melinescu promised Nastase that he would block the investigation until after the presidential elections in 2004, if the current director, Adrian Cucu, was removed from his role and Melinescu took his place.
This happened right after Adrian Nastase was appointed prime minister. Soon enough, the file for this case disappeared mysteriously. In court, Melinescu suggested that the document had most likely been stolen after a break-in that took place while he was on a visit to Moscow. The information in the file stolen by Melinescu proved that the money deposited by Dana Nastase was not backed up by her income.
“According to a sales contract annexed by the depositer it followed that the 400.000 USD, deposited cash, came from selling jewellery, paintings, scrolls, and other valuable goods by the aunt of Daniela Nastase, Tamara Cernasov, aged 91, who lived alone. There is no certain proof that these goods were in the possession and property of the seller since she did not hand over to the notary any document that attested how she had come to own those goods. She only provided a declaration made in good faith”, according to the prosecutors.
Criminal prosecution started in 2006 and the case ended in 2012, when Nastase and two other suspects were cleared of all charges. The judges considered that being politically named in a state secretary role couldn’t be considered bribery, which was Nastase’s only charge in the case. The process continues at the High Court of Cassation and Justice (ICCJ).
Nastase’s problems with the law did not end there. He was also on trial in two other cases — “Zambaccian” and the “Quality Trophy”. In 2012 he was sentenced to two years in prison by the High Court of Cassation and Justice in the “Quality Trophy” case and to four years in prison and a 1.824.000 RON fine for blackmail and bribery. His wife also received three years of jail time in the same case. On July 23rd, 2014 he was released on parole after having executed only a third of his sentence.
Talk of rich white boys who know how to work the system. Nevertheless, Nastase’s fall from grace was almost complete: he’s had his professor title removed and for the time being it looks unlikely that he’ll ever get back on the Romanian political stage.
