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Romania’s gambling regulator is once again confronting allegations of corruption, with prosecutors now targeting one of the agency’s most senior officials in a case that deepens scrutiny of an institution already battered by scandals.
Ana-Maria Badea, deputy director general of the National Office for Gambling (ONJN), is accused of accepting bribes in exchange for accelerating regulatory approvals for gambling products. Prosecutors from the National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA) have asked a court to approve a 30-day preventive arrest, arguing that the alleged conduct formed part of repeated acts of corruption involving officials responsible for oversight and licensing.
Investigators believe the payments were linked to favourable treatment for companies operating in Romania’s gambling market. Badea is alleged to have received €2,500 to speed up the authorisation of gambling games, while the wider investigation examines whether officials inside the regulator systematically accepted money in return for administrative decisions benefiting selected operators.
The inquiry has spread beyond Badea herself. Her husband, along with several ONJN inspectors, has reportedly been placed under supervised judicial control as prosecutors continue examining suspected corruption offences. DNA officers also carried out searches at the regulator’s headquarters in Bucharest as part of the investigation.
Leadership promises reform amid mounting pressure
The developments place additional pressure on ONJN President Vlad-Cristian Soare, who inherited an organisation already struggling to restore public confidence. He acknowledged that four employees from the regulator’s control and authorisation departments are under investigation and said the institution is cooperating fully with prosecutors.
Soare also pointed to an internal restructuring effort centred on integrity standards, presenting the latest investigation as further justification for reforms aimed at rebuilding the regulator’s credibility. He indicated that corruption would not be tolerated and that restoring trust in the institution remained a central objective.
Another senior gambling figure under investigation
The allegations against Badea come only weeks after another prominent figure with close ties to Romania’s gambling sector became embroiled in a separate corruption investigation.
In June, former ONJN president Odeta Nestor was taken into custody. Nestor led the regulator between 2013 and 2017 before later becoming director of the Association of Remote Gambling Operators (AOJND), a position she reportedly lost following her arrest.
Prosecutors alleged that she helped facilitate a €100,000 bribe involving an ONJN official and a Bulgarian intermediary said to be acting for a gambling company. The alleged payment was connected to efforts to conceal money-laundering violations. Nestor was subsequently placed under house arrest, with the measure scheduled to expire on 29 July while legal proceedings continued. Authorities have not announced any final resolution to the case.
Regulator still recovering from tax audit fallout
The succession of investigations has revived concerns over governance inside Romania’s gambling watchdog, whose reputation had already suffered another major setback last year.
An independent audit completed in 2025 concluded that nearly €1 billion in gambling-related tax revenue had not been properly collected. The findings prompted the resignation of then-ONJN president Gheorghe Gabriel Gheorghe and cleared the way for Soare’s appointment, with expectations that new leadership would strengthen oversight and institutional accountability.
Instead, the regulator now finds itself confronting another high-profile corruption investigation, raising fresh questions about whether internal reforms can keep pace with the scale of the problems emerging from within the agency itself.
Source: sbcnews.co.uk
