Possible release Monday for Vlas

Vlas may be paroled

30.09.10 | by: Nine oClock | in: homenews

Ioana Maria Vlas, serving a ten-year sentence for embezzlement in the FNI ponzi scheme case might be released from jail in a few days after judges accepted her parole request, Antena 3 reports. However, it is possible that prosecutors may file an appeal against the decision. If they do not or if the appeal is rejected, Vlas will be released on Monday at the latest, according to the TV channel. Vlas reportedly filed several parole requests before. She was sentenced to jail in the case of the National Investment Fund and National Accumulation Fund, two financial schemes which robbed thousands of people. Several other people were probed in the case, including businessman Sorin Ovidiu Vantu, who was later cleared of all charges.

Wikipedia says:

Ioana Maria Vlas was president of SOV Invest, an investment firm managed by the National Investment Fund (FNI). Under her presidency, FNI was bankrupt in 1999 and caused damage to hundreds of thousands of investors.Vlas fled the country. She finally surrendered to the Romanian authorities on 27 March 2003 . On 13 October 2005 she was sentenced to 20 years in prison, but was released in April 2008. On June 4, 2009, High Court of Cassation and Justice condemned Ioana Maria Vlas to 10 years in prison and the sentence is final.

So, let me try to get this straight since I'm struggling to understand... this woman is said to have embezzled the funds of hundreds and thousands of investors and was initially sentenced to 20 years imprisonment but only served 5 of those before finding her freedom once again (after having fled the country). Then, she was rearrested a year later and sentenced to ten years in 2009 - and the court decision was final. It's now 2010 - one year later (not ten) and she's got a possible release date for Monday so the decision wasn't as final as all that. From a couple of decades to a total of 6 if we include the two years she surrendered to the time she was sentenced. Throughout the case, she continually accused Vantu of being the crook since he controlled the two funds who ordered the false reports, but no evidence could be produced. He walked free.

I know little of this story. Was she the scapegoat (yet another one) for Vantu? Probably.

Here is an article from Libertatea which tells of how she was indeed the scapegoat for the fall of FNI and how she fled to Israel in 2000. The stress and her change of life style were instrumental to her gaining 30kg, making her almost unrecognisable when she arrived back in Roumania - people actually wondered whether it was really her. When she was released in 2008, she is said to have cried for she couldn't believe it... but her freedom wasn't to last long. Yoyo freedom. Off you go and back you come...

I have learned in the Florentina case to pay attention to the comments under articles, for those who bother to leave them often have a pretty good idea of what they are talking about (though there are always the idiot exceptions to that rule). One says:

MARIA VLAS LA PUSCARIE?
Pai Sorin Ovidiu Vantu, Dinu Patriciu, Adrian Nastase, Petre Roman si MAI ALUS ION ILIESCU DE CE NU LA PUSCARIE? STITI DE CE..? SUNTETZI PREA LASHI....DRAGI RROMANI...!

An excellent question, but for so many other misdemeanours besides this one.

Here are some others:

Cazul FNI
Sunt un pagubit de FNI.Asa nedreptate nu cred ca sa intamplat pe lume pana acum. Ar trebui ca acest SO Vantu care e putred de bogat si e principalulescroc in cazul FNI, sa fie OBLIGAT prin lege, sa ne dea banii furati inapoi. Dar se vede treaba ca are atatia bani incat a cumparat toti judecatorii care sunt implicati in judecarea cazului "FNI". Dar nu exista nimsni ir Romania care sa indrepte aceasta nedreptate CRASA din cazul FNI ? D-le Basescu, ai cunostinta de acest caz al FNI ? Daca DA de ce nu intervii pt. ca pagubitii din FNI sa primeasca banii inapoi?

Excroaca!
Ce doritzi acum?! S-o reabilitatzi pe aceasta scroafa?! A mintzit si a inselat fara sa clipeasca! A primit zeci de miliarde pe actziunile pe care le detzinea si pe care le-a vandut CEC-ului la pretz supraevaluat! Acum face pe paduchioasa? O sa mai treaca putzin, s-o "albeasca" justitzia, si sa vedetzi cum va rade in nas tuturor!!

It's hard to know what to think, but having heard what I have about Vantu and Patriciu, I would not be surprised in the least to hear that Vlas was indeed left to carry the can. However, someone else says she stole 10 million. She doesn't look to me like she had that kind of money. Check out the pix in the Libertatea article. Does she look like a multi-millionaire to you? Comments please. Here is an interview with her given after her release in 2008 where she tells of the effect Vantu had on people - she likens him to Rasputin.

On 14th September, Mediafax said Vlas would remain in custody and that discussions of possible parole had been postponed for two months. The article says, 'On June 4, the Ploiesti Court rejected as groundless Vlas' request to be released on parole. Under the law, convicts aged over 55 and sentenced to ten or less than ten years in prison may be released on parole if they served one third of the sentence. Vlas meets parole release conditions.

On April 20, a court cumulated the sentences Vlas had to serve in two different files, one regarding the collapse of the National Investment Fund (a ten-year sentence) and another concerning the collapse of the National Accumulation Fund (an eight-year sentence). Following the court's ruling, Vlas's jail time was reduced to ten years.

Vlas was incarcerated at the Targsor Penitentiary in June 2009.'

Should one feel sorry for this woman? I am not sure. Was she another 'Acarul Paun'? With 'Rasputin' free now, would she be safe on the outside of a penitentiary?

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