Romania: ex-minister sentenced to 6 years for bribes

BUCHAREST, Romania — A court has handed a former Romanian tourism minister a six-year sentence for bribery and abuse of office connected to a boxing gala that she organized.

The High Court of Cassation and Justice sentenced Elena Udrea Tuesday for the 2011 gala, which featured a fight between Romanian-Canadian boxer Lucian Bute and Jean-Paul Mendy of France.

Prosecutors said Udrea, tourism minister from 2008-2012, illegally sponsored the gala with ministry funds, taking a 10 per cent commission from each contract.

Former chairman of Romania’s Boxing Federation Rudel Obreja received a five-year sentence for tax evasion. Udrea’s assistant received three years for complicity to bribery.