Bribery case reaches the second-in-command at the Romanian regulator

Romania’s Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office has requested the arrest of Ana-Maria Badea, deputy head of the gambling regulator ONJN. She is suspected of accepting €2,500 in exchange for fast-tracking the approval of games. This is the second time in two months that a senior official from the agency has come under investigation.

The ONJN itself has announced that it has begun an internal overhaul and has pledged zero tolerance for corruption. Meanwhile, the investigations now involve four staff members, rather than just one.

What the Deputy Head Is Accused Of

Ana-Maria Badea holds the post of Deputy Director-General of the ONJN and, by virtue of her position, ranks immediately below the agency’s president, Vlad-Cristian Soare. On Thursday, the Romanian media reported that prosecutors from the National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA) had requested her preventive detention for 30 days in connection with a case involving the repeated acceptance of bribes.

Investigators say a scheme ran inside the agency, with staff taking money in exchange for decisions that favoured specific operators. The DNA alleges that Badea received €2,500 to speed up the approval of games.

Her husband and several ONJN inspectors have been released under supervision as part of the same corruption case. A series of searches took place at the agency’s headquarters in Bucharest.

Regulator speaks of restructuring

ONJN President Vlad-Cristian Soare has confirmed that an investigation is underway into four individuals from the control and authorisations departments. He stated that the agency is cooperating with the investigation and will provide everything required.

Soare also stated that the ONJN has already begun an internal reorganisation based on the principle of integrity, and described the incident as confirmation that the agency is on the right track. He added that the agency’s reputation is a priority for him and that corruption is unacceptable.

The second case in two months

Badea is the second senior ONJN figure to be targeted by a bribery investigation within two months. In June, Odeta Nestor, who headed the agency from 2013 to 2017 and subsequently served as director of the industry association for remote gambling operators, AOJND, was taken into custody. Following her arrest, according to reports in the Romanian media, she was relieved of this post.

Nestor is accused of acting as an intermediary in the transfer of a bribe of €100,000 between an ONJN employee and a Bulgarian national acting on behalf of an unnamed gambling company. According to the investigation, the bribe was intended to cover up money laundering offences. Nestor remained under house arrest until 29 July, no further details regarding the progress of the case have been made public.

Earlier, in 2025, an independent audit of the ONJN uncovered almost one billion euros in missing taxes. Following this, the agency’s then-president, Gheorghe Gabriel Gheorghe, resigned, and Soare took his place.

Approvals Now Carry a Question Mark

The allegations do not concern routine procedures, but rather the approval of games and the supervision of operators. If the investigators’ version is confirmed, questions will be raised not only about specific individuals, but also about the game approvals signed off during that period.

Romania is meanwhile still rewriting its gambling legislation. The agency responsible for carrying out those changes has itself been under investigation for a second year in a row.