Bid rigging in public auctions

Legal defence in public auction manipulation cases

Bid rigging in public auctions (Article 246 of the Criminal Code) concerns excluding a participant through coercion or corruption, or an agreement between participants to distort the award price. The penalty is 1–5 years’ imprisonment. Secrecy is not a separate condition: public disclosure of an agreement does not by itself exclude the offence. A permitted consortium or economically justified withdrawal must not automatically be confused with criminal conduct, but analysis requires the procedure’s documents and purpose of the conduct. A lawyer can check precisely which of the two forms is alleged.

Anti-competitive agreements and defence strategies

The strategy examines the means of excluding a participant or the agreement aimed at distorting the price. Documentation, bids, communications and commercial relationships must be analysed in full. Lack of secrecy is not a sufficient defence; the agreement’s subject and purpose matter. We can demonstrate independence of a commercial decision, justify a permitted association and challenge selective interpretations of interceptions. If coercion, corruption or the criminalised agreement is not proved, we seek the appropriate outcome. Distinguishing the conduct from administrative or competition-law breaches requires reasons, not merely the fact that participants discussed matters openly.

Urgent legal assistance in Focșani and Vrancea county

Investigations into public auctions organised by local authorities or enforcement auctions conducted by judicial enforcement officers may trigger extensive economic-crime investigations, accompanied by forensic computer searches and seizure of company accounts. The Law Office of Lawyer Basuc Cosmin in Focșani provides specialist legal assistance in public auction manipulation cases in Vrancea County. We assist at interviews before criminal investigation bodies and extensive prosecutorial enquiries, defend you during searches and provide firm trial representation before Focșani District Court, the Vrancea Tribunal or prosecutors’ offices attached to Vrancea courts, seeking to protect your business operations and liberty.