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Romanian: Bucharest mayor detained by prosecutors on suspicion of 25,000 euros bribes

Associated Press
Published | Updated

Police officers escort the handcuffed mayor of Bucharest Sorin Oprescu from his house in Ciolpani, Romania, Sunday, Sept. 6, 2015. Anti-corruption prosecutors in Romania detained the influential mayor of Bucharest early Sunday on suspicion that he took bribes of euro 25,000 (US$28,000) from firms working for the city hall. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda) (The Associated Press)

Police officers escort the handcuffed mayor of Bucharest Sorin Oprescu from his house in Ciolpani, Romania, Sunday, Sept. 6, 2015. Anti-corruption prosecutors in Romania detained the influential mayor of Bucharest early Sunday on suspicion that he took bribes of euro 25,000 (US$28,000) from firms working for the city hall. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda) (The Associated Press)

Anti-corruption prosecutors in Romania have detained the influential mayor of Bucharest on suspicion that he took bribes of 25,000 euros ($28,000) from firms working for the city hall.

The anti-corruption prosecutors' office said in a statement that from 2013-2015, firms which had contracts with Bucharest city hall were obliged to pay up to 70 percent of their profits from work they did for the city hall to high-ranking officials. Of that, 10 percent allegedly went directly to Oprescu.

Prosecutors detained Sorin Oprescu just after midnight. A court will decide whether to formally arrest him later Sunday.

There was no immediate statement from Oprescu.

The 63-year-old Oprescu has been Bucharest mayor since 2008. He ran for president in 2009 and was formerly a senator of the ruling Social Democratic Party.