Daniel Dragomir
| Daniel Dragomir | |
|---|---|
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| Born | c. 1978–79 (aged 42 in February 2021, per the Romanian police)[1] |
| Died | |
| Nationality | Romanian |
| Residence | |
| Occupation | Former officer of the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) |
| Known for | Commissioning Black Cube's 2016 operation against Laura Codruța Kövesi (DIICOT indictment, 2020); convicted of corruption in 2020 |
| Parents | |
| Spouse(s) | |
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| Education | |
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| Website | |
Daniel Dragomir is a former lieutenant colonel in the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI). Romania's organised-crime prosecutors (DIICOT) charged him in July 2020 with commissioning the Israeli private intelligence firm Black Cube to spy on and discredit Laura Codruța Kövesi, then head of Romania's National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA). In a separate case he received a final sentence of three years and ten months for corruption in June 2020, and left Romania the day before the verdict.[2][3] As of March 2025 the Black Cube trial had been stalled for more than four years.[4]
SRI career
The DIICOT indictment, as summarised by Digi24, describes Dragomir as having worked in the "intelligence-operational field of the Terrorism Directorate" of the SRI. Prosecutors argued that this background had given him "vast knowledge" of manipulation techniques and of how organised crime groups are investigated.[3] He held the rank of lieutenant colonel.[2] Prosecutors said he blamed the DNA, which had arrested him, for "destroying" his career.[3]
Timeline
| # | Date | Event | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2016 | DIICOT opens file 180/D/P/2016, which became the Black Cube case | [5] |
| 2 | Late March 2016 | According to DIICOT, Black Cube sends three agents to Bucharest to gather compromising information on Kövesi | [4] |
| 3 | September 2016 | DIICOT has him arrested on suspicion of being the link between Black Cube and those who paid for the operation | [6] |
| 4 | 17 June 2020 | Leaves Romania by car through Arad; no preventive measures were in force in either case | [2] |
| 5 | 18 June 2020 | Given a final sentence of three years and ten months for corruption (influence peddling on behalf of the businessman Rami Ghaziri); the police then put him on the national wanted list | [2] |
| 6 | 13 July 2020 | DIICOT issues the Black Cube indictment | [5] |
| 7 | 3 February 2021 | Surrenders, with his lawyer, at a police station in Bari, Italy | [1] |
| 8 | 8 February 2021 | Bucharest Tribunal rejects his objections and orders a trial on the merits | [5] |
| 9 | 2021–2025 | Trial stalls because the judge does not write up the reasoning of the February 2021 ruling, so it cannot be appealed | [4] |
Black Cube case
DIICOT sent Dragomir for trial, not in custody, on charges of setting up an organised crime group and with instigating illegal access to a computer system, unauthorised transfer of computer data and computer forgery.[5] According to the indictment, he contacted "D.Z.", the representative of the firm with the brand name "BlackCube", through an Israeli citizen who had himself been sentenced to six years in a DNA case, and asked for an operation code-named "Tornado". Prosecutors said he gave the Israelis to understand that the operation had the backing of President Klaus Iohannis and of the SRI director, Eduard Hellvig, and that he also hoped to discredit both men. They found no evidence that any state institution had been involved.[3]
Globes, summarising leaks of Dan Zorella's deposition published by the Romanian newspaper Evenimentul Zilei, reported that Zorella had said Dragomir persuaded him that he was backed by the president and the SRI chief, and had even suggested that Black Cube's staff use SRI mobile phones.[7] In March 2022 Zorella, Avi Yanus and Gal Farchi were each given suspended sentences of two years and eleven months in Bucharest, after reaching plea agreements with DIICOT. G4Media reported that, in testimony taken in Israel, Zorella had said the SRI's involvement was confirmed to him by the late Meir Dagan; prosecutors dropped that line of inquiry when they indicted Dragomir.[6] The Times of Israel described Dragomir as a former Romanian secret agent who had fled the country in June 2020.[8]
Stalled trial
After the preliminary chamber ruled in February 2021 that the indictment and the evidence were lawful, Dragomir challenged the ruling. Judge Claudia Monica Cipariu had to write up her reasoning before the challenge could be heard, and she had not done so more than four years later. Context.ro reported that she had left more than 560 rulings unwritten and had been disciplined three times. She was suspended for six months after the Superior Council of Magistracy sought her removal, and told the paper she had suffered burnout.[4] Black Cube's own executives had admitted the facts in plea agreements and been sentenced in March 2022.[6]
Flight and surrender
Dragomir left Romania by car through Arad on 17 June 2020, the day before his corruption conviction became final.[2] He was put on the international wanted list. On 3 February 2021 he presented himself, with his lawyer, at a police station in Bari, Italy.[1] The sources used here do not say whether he was later returned to Romania.
See also
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 IGPR: Fostul ofiţer SRI Daniel Dragomir s-a predat la o secţie de poliţie din Italia (Romanian police: former SRI officer Daniel Dragomir surrenders at a police station in Italy), Agerpres, 4 February 2021.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Ionuț Mureșan, „Evadarea“ condamnatului Daniel Dragomir. Pe unde şi când a fugit din ţară fostul ofiţer SRI (The "escape" of convicted Daniel Dragomir: where and when the former SRI officer fled the country), Adevărul, 19 June 2020.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 DIICOT a finalizat dosarul Black Cube. Fugarul Dragomir ar fi încercat o acțiune de compromitere a lui Kovesi, Hellvig și Iohannis (DIICOT completes the Black Cube file: fugitive Dragomir allegedly tried to compromise Kövesi, Hellvig and Iohannis), Digi24, 15 July 2020.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Dosarul Black Cube, blocat de peste patru ani. Judecătoarea Cipariu a acuzat burnout, acum susține că și-a revenit (The Black Cube file, blocked for more than four years: judge Cipariu blamed burnout, now says she has recovered), Context.ro, March 2025.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Dosar 'Black Cube'/Tribunalul Bucureşti dispune începerea judecării pe fond a fostului colonel SRI Daniel Dragomir (Black Cube file: Bucharest Tribunal orders trial on the merits of former SRI colonel Daniel Dragomir), Agerpres, 8 February 2021.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Alex Costache, Şefii Black Cube, condamnați la câte 2 ani și 11 luni de detenție cu suspendare în dosarul spionării fostei şefe DNA, Laura Codruţa Kovesi (Black Cube bosses each given 2 years 11 months suspended in the case of spying on former DNA chief Laura Codruța Kövesi), G4Media, 20 March 2022.
- ↑ Hadas Magen, Black Cube - a "Mossad-style" business intelligence co, Globes, 2 April 2017.
- ↑ AFP and ToI Staff, 3 Israelis from Black Cube intel firm given suspended sentence in Romania, Times of Israel, 21 March 2022.