Referees`s head Gheorghe Constantin quits as prosecutors search his house in bribery allegations

Constantin is accused of taking bribery and received a preventive arrest warrant for 29 days from the court in Arges county on April 14.

The head of soccer team FC Arges, Cornel Penescu, is also held in preventive arrest for giving bribery. He and Constantin were taken into custody by prosecutors from the Anticorruption Department (DNA) Pitesti on April 13.  

Cornel Penescu and his brother Ilie were heard by DNA prosecutors in Pitesti. At the same time, some prosecutors searched the soccer club FC Arges and two masked men went to the headquarters of PIC, a group of companies owned by the two brothers. 

The president of FC Arges, Cristian Minca, said prosecutors are checking the club's documents, and that is all he knows. 

Several police officers seized some documents from Romania's Football Federation (FRF) concerning a case investigated by the local office DNA Pitesti. Prosecutors sealed Constantin's office, according to people close to the investigation.

Penescu is accused of giving a bribery of 54,000 euros and 290,000 lei to referees Aurelian Bogaciu, Marcel Savaniu and Tiberiu Lajos for the matches Gloria Bistrita-FC Arges (played on October 31 last year, score 2-0), FC Brasov-FC Arges (played on March 15, score 1-0) and FC Arges-Universitatea Craiova (played on October 3 last year, score 1-1).