White-collar crime.
White-collar crime lawyer for directors, companies and professionals in economic cases: tax evasion, money laundering, embezzlement, abuse of office and corruption-related offences.
When you need a lawyer
Your company is the subject of a DNA or DIICOT inquiry
An accusation of tax evasion or money laundering// Law 241/2005 · Law 129/2019
An accusation of embezzlement, abuse of office or corruption-related offences
A seizure has been placed on the company’s accounts or assets
How we work
Assessing the accusation
We analyse the accusation, the investigation file and the real criminal risk for the individual and the company.
Reviewing the file
We examine the lawfulness of the investigative acts, the freezing orders and the evidence gathered.
Strategy
We build the defence strategy on the merits, aimed at the best possible outcome at every stage of the case.
Who represents you
Dr George Zlati is a partner at ZIC Legal (Zlati Ionescu Chiperi SCA), based in Cluj-Napoca and practising nationwide. As counsel, he drafted and argued the constitutional challenges upheld by the Constitutional Court in Decisions no. 87/2019 and no. 233/2021, and in 2020 he received the “Vintilă Dongoroz” Prize of the Union of Jurists of Romania.
- Author, Treatise on Cybercrime
- Cited in binding ÎCCJ rulings
- External collaborator, INM
- Vintilă Dongoroz Award 2020
- Corruption & abuse-of-office offences
- Cybercrime
- Economic offences
- LL.M. criminal sciences (top of class)
Frequently asked questions
What do I do if my company is targeted by a DNA or DIICOT investigation?
The first step is not to communicate or hand over documents without legal advice. Early assistance protects both the individual and the company. See which offences fall under DIICOT jurisdiction.
Can a seizure on the company’s accounts be lifted?
Such a measure can be challenged if it is disproportionate or ordered without sufficient basis. We assess the proportionality and lawfulness of the measure.
What is the difference between abuse of office and a simple management mistake?
The difference lies in the rule that was breached. Abuse of office (art. 297 of the Criminal Code) requires the official to fail to perform an act provided for by a law, a Government ordinance or another act with the force of law, or to perform it in breach of a provision of such an act, thereby causing a loss or an injury to the rights or legitimate interests of a person. Obtaining a benefit is not an element of the offence. A management decision that was merely inopportune or unsuccessful, taken without breaching such a provision, falls outside it.
How are corruption offences such as bribery or trading in influence handled?
Corruption offences (taking and giving a bribe, art. 289-290 of the Criminal Code, and trading in influence, art. 291) are investigated mainly by the DNA. The defence often turns on whether a genuine quid pro quo existed and on the precise legal classification of the facts.
Can money laundering be charged together with the underlying offence?
Yes. Money laundering (art. 49 of Law 129/2019) is autonomous and is frequently charged alongside the offence that generated the funds; the prosecution must still prove their criminal origin. See our money laundering practice.
Does the offence of embezzlement also apply to administrators and employees?
Yes. Embezzlement (art. 295 of the Criminal Code) consists in appropriating, using or trafficking money, valuables or other assets that the offender manages or administers, in their own interest or for another person. The text is written for public officials, but art. 308 of the Criminal Code also applies it to administrators, employees and anyone else who holds a position of any kind within a legal person, with the special limits of the penalty reduced by one third. The existence and the real extent of the loss are central to the defence.
Can a witness be assisted by a lawyer during questioning?
Yes. If a witness attends questioning accompanied by a lawyer, the lawyer may be present (art. 118 (4) of the Criminal Procedure Code). The witness has the right not to state facts that would incriminate them, and evidence obtained in breach of that right cannot be used against them in any criminal proceedings. There is, however, no general right to refuse to testify. Under HP no. 54/2026, refusing to give a statement outside the cases provided by law may amount to false testimony. In economic cases a witness is often a step away from becoming a suspect, so legal assistance matters from the first summons.
Related areas
What we handle
Protect your company from the very first moment.
What you state and hand over in the first days sets the frame in which the prosecution is built. Many irreparable mistakes are made before the file is even read.