George Becali

George Becali

George "Gigi" Becali (born June 25, 1958 in Zagna , Brăila district ) is a Romanian entrepreneur and was a politician of the now (2016) no longer active PNG-CD (Partidul Noua Generație - Creştin Democrat) . He was sentenced several times to prison and suspended sentences. He is also the owner of the FCSB Bucharest football club .

Becali's trademarks are his omnipresence in the Romanian media and his provocative demeanor with his vulgar choice of words. His political convictions are described as a mixture between crude ideologies of ultra-conservatism, right-wing extremist elements (incitement against homosexuals , denial of the Holocaust in Romania) and orthodox fundamentalism.

Life

Becali parents are simple farmers from the ethnic group of Vlachs . His ancestors originally settled in Albania, but in the interwar period, like many other Aromanians, emigrated to southern Dobruja (Romanian: Cadrilater ), which at that time belonged to Greater Romania . In 1940 this area was ceded to Bulgaria and the local Aromanians were resettled in the part of the Dobruja that remained with Romania. Becali's grandfather then became involved in the nationalist Iron Guard , which is why the family was forcibly resettled to the Banat and in 1951 to the Bărăgan steppe after the later takeover of power by the communists ( deportation to the Bărăgan steppe ). Becali was born there in 1958. The family was engaged in sheep breeding and, despite the planned economy, was able to set up their own business by supplying hotels in Bucharest and the tourist resorts on the Black Sea with cheese and sheep meat. This was only possible by bribing local Securitate officers, who were under the influence of many hotels that were allowed to accommodate foreigners. When private entrepreneurship was legalized after the revolution , Becali gave up his trained profession as a mechanic and took over the family business. The business flourished with the large-scale export of sheep to Turkey. Becali invested the income in his own trucks and on the way back imported textiles, cigarettes and soap - products that were in short supply in post-communist Romania - from Turkey. His business partner during this time was the footballer Gheorghe Hagi , who was an international star at the time and earned money as a legionnaire in Spain and Italy. He invested the wealth he had earned in real estate speculation at a time when the Romanian real estate market was just beginning to develop.

The public prosecutor's office was investigating some of these deals, which are considered dubious. A land swap between Becalis and the Romanian Ministry of Defense in 1999 attracted particular attention, in which he is said to have made a profit of 3 million dollars in a short period of time. Becali did not even own the land at the time the contract was signed. Only when the ministry had made the decision did he buy their land from local farmers and then trade them for profit. These deals made him one of the richest businessmen in Romania, in 2008 his fortune was estimated by the daily Adevărul at 700–750 million euros.

Presidium meeting of the PNG-CD, September 2007

In 2000, he entered politics for the first time, but just missed out on becoming a member of parliament. In 2003 he was elected as a major sponsor for the first time as president of the football club Steaua Bucharest (since April 2017 FCSB Bucharest ), an office he held until 2007. He later acquired shares in the association and is now considered its owner, even if he no longer holds an official position in the association. As the main financier, he appears in the media as the club's spokesman and makes important decisions, such as appointing a coach.

Through his involvement in football he achieved national recognition, which subsequently helped him in his political career. In 2004 he took over the chairmanship of the small party Partidul Noua Generație , which he has since brought on a populist and nationalist course. In 2004 he ran for the office of President, but only won 1.77% of the vote. His party also failed in the first European elections on the occasion of Romania 's accession to the EU in 2007. He then entered into an electoral alliance with the second right-wing nationalist small party Partidul România Mare and ran for the regular European elections in 2009 on their list, whereby he was elected member of the European Parliament. At the time of the election campaign, he was in custody for deprivation of liberty, along with four of his bodyguards, as they arbitrarily arrested thieves who had stolen one of his luxury cars, locked them in the trunk and physically abused them instead of handing them over to the police. Since April 17, 2009 he was free again.

Becali was particularly noticeable in the European Parliament because of his absence, which is why Spiegel in 2010 described him as “the laziest EU MP” . This was also due to the fact that he was temporarily prohibited from leaving Romania due to the ongoing investigation.

During this time Becali had repeatedly called himself the richest man in Romania, but he lost a significant part of his fortune due to the international financial and economic crisis that hit Romania from 2008 onwards.

After a dispute with his nationalist electoral alliance partner Corneliu Vadim Tudor , Becali changed camp with his party and ran in the early parliamentary elections in the wake of the state crisis in Romania in 2012 for the electoral alliance Uniunea Social Liberală led by Victor Ponta, which consists of socialists and liberals . After the surprisingly clear election victory of the USL, Becali was now a member of parliament for the Bucharest constituency 25.

On February 11, 2013 his case from 2009 for deprivation of liberty was finally decided by the Supreme Court ( Înalta Curte de Casație și Justiție ). He was sentenced to three and a half years in prison. He was released on parole in April 2015.

In April 2013 the European Court of Justice ruled that the Steaua Bucharest association could be held liable for Becalis' homophobic statements. The club's management had previously pleaded that Becali has no official function at Steaua and is only its sponsor.

George Becali is the main shareholder of the Arcom construction group , which was privatized in 1995 , the Uzina Mecanică Drăgășani ammunition factory, which was privatized in 2004 , the Avicola Iași poultry fattening company and the manufacturer of electronic components in Rome .

MEP Member of the European Parliament

George Becali was a non-attached member of the European Parliament from 2009 to 2012 and then resigned. As MEP, George Becali was a member of the following committees and delegations: Committee on International Trade , Delegation to the Committees for Parliamentary Cooperation EU-Armenia, EU-Azerbaijan and EU-Georgia , Delegation to the EURO-NEST Parliamentary Assembly and Deputy in the Legal Committee .

Web links

Commons : George Becali  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Website of George Becalis party Partidul Noua Generaţie
• Becali in conversation with Antena 1 reporters
• Becali in conversation with the Tagesspiegel
• Entry for George Becali in the database of Members of the European Parliament

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://www.wall-street.ro/articol/Legal-Business/182019/gigi-becali-iese-din-inchisoare-dupa-ce-a-scris-doua-carti-si-a-executat-o -treime-din-pedeapsa.html
2. ↑ click.ro: Becali. Oi, fotbal şi bogăţie ( Memento of the original from February 22, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ( Sheep, Football and Wealth ), Romanian, July 5, 2011 
3. ^ Report on Deutschlandfunk about George Becali
4. ↑ evz.ro Gigi Becali revine la mahala ( Memento of the original from March 1, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , March 2, 2005, Romanian 
5. ↑ wall-street.ro Cum arata topul celor mai bogati miliardari din Romania , October 14, 2008, Romanian
6. ↑ zoro.ro German-language news from Romania on the Becali case, accessed on June 11, 2009
7. ↑ Der Spiegel: Gigi Becali , edition 23/2010
8. ↑ NZZ.ch of July 31, 2007, accessed on October 13, 2009
9. ↑ Zoro.ro, October 6, 2009, accessed October 13, 2009
10. ↑ Ziarul Financiar: Gigi Becali, condamnat definitely la trei ani închisoare cu suspendare în dosarul Sechestrării de persoane , February 11, 2013, Romanian
11. ↑ http://www.mediafax.ro/social/gigi-becali-eliberat-conditionat-prima-declaratie-la-iesirea-din-penitenciar-vreau-sa-ma-impac-cu-toti-sa-ma-ierte -orice-om-pe-care-l-am-suparat-14105082
12. ↑ Keno Verseck: Bizarre law in Romania: Club of prison researchers. In: Spiegel Online . January 16, 2016, accessed June 9, 2018 . 
13. ↑ Die Presse: Steaua Bucharest liable for the owner's hatred of gays , April 25, 2013
14. ^ Website of the European Parliament