The husband of PNL senator Nicoleta Pauliuc appears in the first well-known case involving the Cămătaru clan from the early 2000s. Viorel Pauliuc was involved in discussions about a “working capital fund” and the recovery of debts with a lieutenant of the Cămătaru brothers. The “working capital fund” referred to bribe money distributed among members of the criminal group. After leaving the police force, Viorel Pauliuc turned to real estate businesses and the management of several companies in the Ilfov area, according to the family’s asset and interest declarations.
A Facebook post published by journalist Ovidiu Vanghele has brought renewed attention to one of the most notorious organized crime cases in Romania in the early 2000s: the Cămătaru clan case, investigated by former prosecutor Marian Sîntion.
In his post, Vanghele stated that the investigation also mentioned the name of Viorel Pauliuc, the husband of current PNL senator Nicoleta Pauliuc. To support this claim, he published a page from the case file containing a dialogue between the police officer and a lieutenant of the Cămătaru brothers.
The senator’s husband’s conversation with Fluturică, the Cămătaru clan associate
Intercepted conversation – March 12, 2003, 1:59 PM
VIorel PAULIUC and SILVIU DUDIȚĂ (known as “Fluturică”):
SILVIU DUDIȚĂ (Fluturică): Hello, General! What are we doing about the debtor?
VIorel PAULIUC: The debtor? (laughs) I spoke with him a little while ago.
SILVIU DUDIȚĂ (Fluturică): And what did he say, boss?
VIorel PAULIUC: He said he’ll call me back. Today, by four or four-thirty, he’ll call because he’s waiting for the money to arrive at the bank. I told him: “Listen, you gave your word in front of me and I don’t know how they might forgive you, BUT I WON’T FORGIVE YOU!”
SILVIU DUDIȚĂ (Fluturică): It’s understood. If necessary, WE’LL INCREASE THE WORKING CAPITAL FUND!
VIorel PAULIUC: Yes. Alright, bye!
According to the case documents published by Ovidiu Vanghele, Viorel Pauliuc appears in wiretaps allegedly helping “one of the most important aides of the loan sharks, Fluturică, terrorize his victims or providing criminals with information about police and prosecutor movements.”
Vanghele further argues that the case represented his “first harsh encounter with the reality of the Romanian justice system” and that the indictment described extremely serious acts attributed to members of the Cămătaru clan. According to the journalist, the group led by Nuțu and Sile Cămătaru “destroyed dozens of lives,” but the case later fell apart due to legislative changes and judicial delays.
Pauliuc was involved in the Cămătaru brothers’ case
Viorel Pauliuc was not formally part of the main Cămătaru case because he was investigated separately and later sent to trial due to his status as an active police officer, according to fanatik.ro. Former prosecutor Marian Sîntion said that Pauliuc managed to exploit certain procedural flaws that ultimately resulted in a suspended sentence for aiding offenders.
“Because of the judges’ mentality, we had to split the case because there was Captain Pauliuc, a criminal investigations police officer, one of the people responsible for collecting evidence at crime scenes. This was in 2002, for acts we attributed to him involving unlawful deprivation of liberty and blackmail,”
prosecutor Marian Sîntion said in the documentary series The Loan Sharks, broadcast on Voyo.
“After 2003 or 2004, the judicial police was established, and the judges at the Court of Appeal came up with an interpretation saying that if he worked in criminal investigations, then he should be considered a judicial police officer. They applied the law retroactively and forced us to separate his case because, as a captain, any arrest warrant request should have been sent to the Court of Appeal rather than to the Tribunal, where we had initially filed it,”
Sîntion explained.
The investigative publication anchetatorii.ro has also claimed that Viorel Pauliuc left the police force after allegedly being involved in assisting the Cămătaru clan.
Who is Nicoleta Pauliuc?
Nicoleta Pauliuc is a PNL senator representing Ilfov County and one of the party’s leading figures in the fields of defense and national security. She serves as chair of the Senate Committee for Defense, Public Order and National Security and is also a First Vice President of the National Liberal Party (PNL).
In recent years, Nicoleta Pauliuc has become one of the most visible liberal politicians on issues related to defense, NATO, and regional security, particularly in the context of the war in Ukraine. She has frequently promoted projects aimed at modernizing Romania’s armed forces and combating domestic violence, and she has also launched public campaigns focused on cancer prevention.
Within the PNL, her name is associated with the groups that supported closer cooperation with PSD and the continuation of coalition arrangements developed in recent years.
Her husband now lives from real estate businesses
According to the asset declaration submitted in January 2025, Senator Nicoleta Pauliuc and her husband, Viorel Pauliuc, jointly own an extensive real estate portfolio. The family possesses dozens of agricultural and residential plots in Ilfov, Giurgiu, and Constanța counties, including a 615,000-square-meter agricultural property in Rasova, Constanța County. They also own three apartments in Bucharest and additional land acquired through purchases, donations, and court decisions.
In bank accounts, Nicoleta Pauliuc declared more than 1 million lei and several hundred thousand euros. The family also owns jewelry and watches valued at approximately €55,000. The PNL senator has granted loans exceeding 2.3 million lei and tens of thousands of euros to both individuals and legal entities.
Her husband, Viorel Pauliuc, is listed in the asset declaration as earning income from several real estate and investment companies operating in the Dragomirești Deal area of Ilfov County, including ND Consulting Imobiliare, Terra Green Solutions, Caliana Chic, and P&P Drag Invest. He also receives lease income from the family’s agricultural land holdings.
These companies have generated a combined turnover of nearly 10 million lei since 2020.
