Ioan Niculae (born 19 July 1954) is a Romanian businessman, best known for his ownership of InterAgro and the
Astra Giurgiu
Asociația Fotbal Club Astra Giurgiu (), commonly known as Astra Giurgiu or simply Astra, was a Romanian football club based in the city of Giurgiu, Giurgiu County. Founded in 1921 in Ploiești as ''Clubul Sportiv Astra-Română'', it spent th ...
football club. In August 2018, his net worth was estimated at
$700 million.
Overview
He is the owner of the InterAgro group, Romania's leading agricultural and fertilizer conglomerate, with revenues in excess of €630 million in 2012.
Through his company, Niculae manages approximately 50,000 hectares of agricultural fields and is the biggest Romanian cereal cultivator. He is also the owner of 170 hectares of vineyards, reaping their first harvest in 2008.
Since 2004, the total amount of agricultural investments done by his company has surpassed €100 million.
Niculae was accused of being an informer of
Securitate
The Securitate (, Romanian for ''security'') was the popular term for the Departamentul Securității Statului (Department of State Security), the secret police agency of the Socialist Republic of Romania. Previously, before the communist regime ...
, the secret police agency of Communist Romania.
In the
2013 Forbes list of billionaires, Niculae was stated to have an estimated fortune of $1.2 billion, holding the 1372nd position. He is the third Romanian to be featured in the magazine, after
Dinu Patriciu
Dan Costache ("Dinu") Patriciu (; 3 August 1950 – 19 August 2014) was a Romanian billionaire businessman and politician. At the time of his death, Patriciu was the richest man in Romania. His wealth was based on the Rompetrol company (the seco ...
and
Ion Țiriac
Ion Țiriac (; born 9 May 1939), also known as the "Brașov Bulldozer", is a Romanian businessman and former professional tennis and ice hockey player. He has been president of the Romanian Tennis Federation.
A former singles top 10 player on ...
.
Since 1996 Niculae has been the owner of the
Astra Giurgiu
Asociația Fotbal Club Astra Giurgiu (), commonly known as Astra Giurgiu or simply Astra, was a Romanian football club based in the city of Giurgiu, Giurgiu County. Founded in 1921 in Ploiești as ''Clubul Sportiv Astra-Română'', it spent th ...
football team.
In 2021 Ioan Niculae was sentenced to 5 years in prison for tax evasion, money laundering and influence buying, being involved in many corruption cases.
Biography
He entered the business world after 1990, setting up, alongside a Turkish partner, a chemical trade company – Interaction.
In 1995, he founded InterAgro, a Romanian-Chinese joint venture.
In 1997, Niculae became the majority stakeholder of the Astra Ploiesti refinery, after a $16 million investment.
In 1998, he bought into the Romanian insurance company Asirom, after investing $21 million. He sold those stocks in 2007, making a profit of $65 million.
He has been subject to many controversies, stemming from his business practices in the oil and gas industry. He has denied all charges.
In 2012, The Romanian National Tax Administration accused Niculae of defrauding the national budget due to accusations that his tobacco company, Galaxy Tobacco, had failed to pay its taxes, amounting to an excess of €120 million. Niculae fought the charges in Court and won.
In 2013, Niculae faced negative press after state prosecutors alleged that two Romanian politicians gave InterAgro favorable gas discounts from 2006 to 2010.
That same year, 2013, Niculae founded the Romanian Investors Council.
On April 2, 2015 he was jailed for two-and-a-half years for illegal financing the
PSD PSD may refer to:
Educational bodies
* Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, a Pre-K to 12th grade school for Deaf and Hard of Hearing students, located in the Germantown section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
* Philippine School Doha, a Filipino scho ...
electoral campaign from 2009.
Personal life
In 2013, Niculae filed divorce from his wife, Domnita Niculae, ending a 31-year-old marriage. The divorce trial is still pending.
[http://www.ziare.com/stiri/proces/miliardarul-ioan-niculae-divorteaza-cat-cere-sotia-la-partaj-1257742 ''Ziare.com''. Accessed on March 20, 2014]
He is the father of three children.
See also
*
List of corruption scandals in Romania
This is a list of notable corruption scandals in Romania.
Investigations resulting in final sentences
Investigations resulting in convictions, subject to appeal
International scandals
* Dan Nica (Minister of Communications) was accused by th ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Niculae, Ioan
1954 births
Living people
Former billionaires
People from Giurgiu County
Romanian businesspeople
Romanian white-collar criminals