Sorin Ovidiu Vântu is a Romanian businessman and owner of the Realitatea-Caţavencu media company. In 2008 he was considered the 5th richest man in Romania with an estimated net worth between 800 and 850 million euros.[1]
On June 16, 2009, during an TV interview on B1 TV, president Traian Băsescu accused Vântu of tax evasion by allegedly not paying 60 million euros worth of Value Added Tax. Vântu later denied the accusation, and sued Băsescu for libel, asking for 1 million euros in damages.[2]
Vântu was sentenced to two years in prison in 2005 for using some false documents to gain majority shares in the Investment and Development Bank (BID), which went bankrupt in 2002. Later the Bucharest Court of Appeals ordered by final decision the discontinuation of the trial finding that the charges passed their statute of limitations.[3]
In September 2010 he was briefly arrested, being accused of having helped Nicolae Popa, the former CEO of FNI.