Gabriel Sandu (born September 8, 1963) is a

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

n economist and politician. A member of the Democratic Liberal Party (PD-L), he was a member of the

Romanian Chamber of Deputies ); – Committee for Industries and Services ( ro, Comisia pentru industrii și servicii); – Committee for Transport and Infrastructure ( ro, Comisia pentru transporturi și infrastructură); – Committee for Agriculture, Forestry, Food Indu ...

for

Brăila County Brăila County () is a county ( județ) of Romania, in Muntenia, with the capital city at Brăila. Demographics In 2011, Brăila had a population of 304,925 and the population density was 64/km2. * Romanians – 98% * Romani, Russians, Lipo ...

from 2004 to 2008. In the

Emil Boc Emil Boc (; born 6 September 1966) is a Romanian politician who was Prime Minister of Romania from 22 December 2008 until 6 February 2012 and is the current Mayor of Cluj-Napoca, the largest city of Transylvania, where he was first elected in Ju ...

cabinet, he was Minister of Communications and Information Society from 2008 to 2010, also serving as interim Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises, Commerce and Business Environment in late 2009. He has two sons and is divorced.Profile at the Romanian Chamber of Deputies site
retrieved May 23, 2009

Biography

He was born in

Mizil Mizil () is a town in Prahova County, Muntenia, Romania. Located in the southeastern part of the county, it lies along the road between the cities of Ploiești and Buzău, and to the northeast of the national capital, Bucharest. Its position led i ...

Prahova County Prahova County () is a county ( județ) of Romania, in the historical region Muntenia, with the capital city at Ploiești. Demographics In 2011, it had a population of 762,886 and the population density was 161/km². It is Romania's third mos ...

and after attending secondary school at the town's Grigore Tocilescu Theoretical High School, with a focus on mathematics and physics, enrolled at the

Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies The Bucharest University of Economic Studies ( ro, Academia de Studii Economice din București, abbreviated ''ASE'') is a public university in Bucharest, Romania. Founded in 1913 as the ''Academy of Higher-level Commercial and Industrial Studies'' ...

. He graduated in 1989 from the Commerce faculty. From 1990 to 1993 he headed the import-export division at a mattress factory in Mizil. From 1993 to 1997, he was vice president of a furniture producer and distributor in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

. From 1997 to 2004, he was director of a private firm.Profile at the Romanian Government site
; retrieved May 23, 2009 After joining the Union of Right-Wing Forces (UFD), Sandu became the president of its Prahova County chapter in 1999. He was then vice president (2000-2001) and secretary general (2001-2003) of the party before its absorption into the National Liberal Party (PNL). From 2003 to 2004, he was a supplementary member of the PNL's executive bureau and vice president of its Prahova County chapter. In November 2004, he was

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a populatio ...

to the Chamber, where he served on the Committee for Political Economy, Reform and Privatisation. From 2004 to 2006, he was part of the PNL's executive bureau and vice president of its Brăila County chapter. In December 2006, he resigned from the PNL to follow

Theodor Stolojan Theodor Dumitru Stolojan (; born 24 October 1943) is a Romanian politician who was Prime Minister of Romania from September 1991 to November 1992. An economist by training, he was also one of the presidents of the National Liberal Party (PNL) bef ...

into the new Liberal Democratic Party (PLD), serving as that party's vice president for organisational consolidation and development. A year later, when the PLD merged into the PD-L, Sandu followed, and since then he has served as a vice president of the party and as first vice president of the Prahova County chapter. At the

2008 election This electoral calendar 2008 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2008 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, even though they are not elections. By-elections are no ...

, Sandu ran for a Prahova County

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

seat, but lost. During the campaign, two builders accused him of not paying 87,724 lei (some $35,000) for two houses he ordered built in

Sinaia Sinaia () is a town and a mountain resort in Prahova County, Romania. It is situated in the historical region of Muntenia. The town was named after the Sinaia Monastery of 1695, around which it was built. The monastery, in turn, is named after t ...

; his name was also cited by an anti-money laundering agency regarding his dealings with an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

company that was itself suspected of laundering. The following month, he was named minister in the incoming government."Guvern de regăţeni, cu 'moţ' ardelean" ("Old Kingdom Government, with a Few Transylvanians")
, ''Adevărul'', 19 December 2008; retrieved May 23, 2009 His priorities as minister include rapidly accessing

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

Structural Funds The European Structural and Investment Funds (ESI Funds, ESIFs) are financial tools governed by a common rulebook, set up to implement the regional policy of the European Union, as well as the structural policy pillars of the Common Agricultural ...

, increasing interoperability among government agencies, developing the IT and

broadband In telecommunications, broadband is wide bandwidth data transmission which transports multiple signals at a wide range of frequencies and Internet traffic types, that enables messages to be sent simultaneously, used in fast internet connections. ...

sectors, and

digital television transition The digital television transition, also called the digital switchover (DSO), the analogue switch/sign-off (ASO), the digital migration, or the analogue shutdown, is the process in which older analogue television broadcasting technology is conv ...

. In October 2009, he became interim Small and Medium Enterprises Minister following the resignation of his PSD cabinet colleagues, including Constantin Niță, the previous occupant of that ministry, holding the portfolio until December. He was dismissed from the Communications Ministry in September 2010, following a cabinet reshuffle. Sandu was implicated in the

Microsoft licensing corruption scandal The Microsoft licensing corruption scandal was a political scandal and criminal investigation in Romania, involving large bribes paid to Romanian government members in exchange for approving increases in license fees for Microsoft products. It was c ...

, being charged with bribe-taking and money laundering. In March 2016, the

High Court of Cassation and Justice The High Court of Cassation and Justice ( ro, Înalta Curte de Casație și Justiție) is Romania's supreme court, and the court of last resort. It is the equivalent of France's Cour de Cassation and serves a similar function to other courts of ...

sentenced him to two years' imprisonment and asset forfeiture of

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

2.2 million. That October, the court increased his prison sentence to three years."Condamnări definitive în Dosarul 'Microsoft'" ("Final Sentences in the Microsoft Case")
Mediafax, 3 October 2016; accessed October 3, 2016

References

External links

Official site

Profile at the Romanian Chamber of Deputies site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sandu, Gabriel Democratic Liberal Party (Romania) politicians National Liberal Party (Romania) politicians Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania) Romanian Ministers of Communications Romanian economists Romanian businesspeople People from Mizil Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies alumni Romanian politicians convicted of corruption 1963 births Living people