Horațiu Potra, head of the Romanian mercenaries in Africa and of those guarding Călin Georgescu, was detained for 24 hours on Sunday night by prosecutors from the Prosecutor’s Office of the Ploiești Court of Appeal, where he was questioned for several hours.
Potra’s lawyers, Christiana Mondea and Șerban Moga, told the press that Potra has no links with Călin Georgescu and that this is not the subject of the case in which their client is being investigated:
- „You bring the man at 3 in the morning for hearings. You tell the media to that he did whatever and the file shows something completely different. The accusation refers to what you have seen as an arsenal and certain Facebook posts. That is failure to comply with the arms and ammunition regime and public instigation on the grounds that he posted something at the beginning of December. However, if we check Mr. Potra’s Facebook page, we will see that the post made at the beginning of December is a song, which I have not listened to. We requested this and were told that it is not possible at the moment,” the two lawyers said.
It should be noted that on Sunday, police officers found pistols and bladed weapons in several cars of Potra’s close relatives. See details here.
Horațiu Potra has tried several times to obtain public offices (mayor, county council, parliament) and appears in photos with representatives of PSD Sibiu in the 2024 elections and with Lavinia Șandru from PUSL (the party founded by the Securitate whistleblower Dan Voiculescu, the de facto owner of the Antena trust).
After the COVID-19 pandemic, Horațiu Potra filmed himself holding a machete while threatening the country’s leadership: „You are all traitors to the country”, he told them, as Antena 3 reported on Sunday. Watch the video here.
Horațiu Potra has been convicted of weapons and ammunition offenses in a case opened in 2010 by DIICOT, according to information from the justice portal aggregated by Lege5. The head of the BCCO Alba Alba at the time, Traian Berbeceanu, called Potra „extremely dangerous” and recounted in a 2012 RISE Project and „In the Premiere” investigation that Potra slept with a loaded pistol next to him.
Berbeceanu called him „extremely skillful” and „well-prepared” and recounted that during searches of Potra’s home, they found assassin-specific weapons and „war-like” ammunition. However, judges in Oradea released him at the time, saying he posed no public danger.
Mediafax reported at the time, citing police officials, that Potra possessed assassin-specific weaponry that could at any time be used by a terrorist cell for a terrorist act.
After Potra’s release, Berbeceanu read at a press conference in Sibiu the text message of a subordinate showing his frustration with the judges’ decision, saying that police officers could „die tomorrow.”
- „It’s exactly this stuff that bothers me more than any material deprivation. Tomorrow we could die for a 1600 lei wage and, to top it all, that’s of no use to anyone. Maybe I can no longer understand justice,” Berbeceanu’s subordinate was quoted as saying by Alba24.
Berbeceanu also recounted how Potra used „dum-dum” or „cop-killer” bullets because they pierced bulletproof vests and then „spread” through the body, injuring internal organs:
- „When we entered his home, he had the revolver handy and while he was immobilized he tried to get to a handbag where he had two other weapons,” Traian Berbeceanu said in 2010, quoted by Adevărul.
In the end, Potra was acquitted on drug trafficking charges and given a suspended sentence of 2 years and 8 months for failure to comply with the arms and ammunition regulations. In 2017, Potra was rehabilitated.
G4Media has revealed that Potra is a landowner with nearly 100 plots of land and houses, 10 kilograms of gold and more than a million euros made from „physical training and specialized training”.
Potra’s declaration of assets filed as a candidate for the mayors’ office in Mediaș and for the position of county councillor at Sibiu County Council shows that he owns:
- 68 intravilane and extravilane plots of land, almost all in single shares, acquired by purchase between 2002 and 2023. They are located in the counties of Sibiu and Cluj, part of which is arable land and forests.
- 28 apartments, commercial premises and dwelling houses acquired between 2003 and 2023, the location of which is not mentioned. The largest area – 832 square meters – is a house bought last year.
Potra also participated in the parliamentary elections on the list of the Independent Social Democratic Party, according to Turnul Sfatului, after running on the list of the Patriots’ Party in the local elections.
Horațiu Potra is a former fighter in the Foreign Legion, former „head of Corporate Security” of Frank Timiș’ companies in Africa and associated by the Western media with Wagner’s interests in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Potra has had numerous anti-Western, anti-Ukraine and pro-Russia outings, one example being:
- „You are all traitors to your country, serving foreign interests. And especially those Romanians in the shadows who stay hidden, who give orders. For 2 years you’ve taken away all our rights, including the right to breathe. You have treated us like prisoners: you have impoverished us by completely destroying the economy, which was already in shambles anyway. Now you are coming in the name of NATO, in order to satisfy the wishes of powerful partners, to plunge us into a conflict with Russia, by indirectly involving us in the conflict in Ukraine. Why do you want to send ammunition and equipment to Ukraine? What have the Russians done to us? How have they wronged us for us to be against them? Or what obligations do we have to Ukraine to take their side in this conflict? Neutrality is not acceptable?” said Potra in a post on his Facebook page in late 2022.
G4Media also revealed how since 2002 he has been head of the bodyguards of the President of the Central African Republic, Ange-Felix Patasse. The latter was ousted in 2003.
Potra then worked in all war zones in Africa: Sierra Leone, Chad, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, after which he was hired by Frank Timiș to provide security for his gold mines in Africa.
He was wounded eight times and taken prisoner twice. He was a partner in a company selling diamonds on the Antwerp and Tel Aviv stock exchanges and ran real estate businesses in southern France.
The Siberian Horațiu Potra’s name was linked to Wagner mercenaries in conflicts in Africa in a Deutsche Welle investigation in January 2023.
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