A former colleague of Dragoș Sprînceană accuses „Ciolacu’s emissary” of scamming people: „I caught him forging payment confirmations from clients,” Răzvan Băncescu, a Romanian who has been living in the US for several years, told G4Media and Info Sud-Est.
- Note: Răzvan Băncescu has been the head of the Bucharest Animal Supervision and Protection Authority (ASPA) since 2013. He has been based in the U.S. for several years, where he works in the transportation industry.
Băncescu claims that he realized he was going to be cheated by Sprînceană out of $15,000, but allegedly managed to recover about half of the money:
- „He invested a lot in the image side of things and then the scams came. I caught him forging payment confirmations from customers. Here, according to the American rules of transportation, the middleman retains a fixed percentage, set in advance. And he was altering the PDFs. He was editing them so that the contributor’s pay percentage was reduced and then he’s the one left with more money. I recovered some of my money, but there was still some money left (…) With me it was a small amount, a total of 15,000 (dollars, editor’s note) of which I recovered part of it and there was 8000 left (…) With Gold Coast (Sprînceană’s company with which Băncescu collaborated, editor’s note).
The quoted source also told G4Media that Sprînceană was telling him that he earned less money from clients than was actually the case:
- „I was his subcontractor. In road transportation here a percentage is set that the middleman keeps for himself and the rest is given to the carrier, in this case, me. For example, if for a Chicago – New York trip, the client paid $6,000 to me, he would give me receipts that that client paid $3,500. This is for the period 2017 – 2018”.
Răzvan Băncescu also told G4Media that Sprînceană also set up other companies to get rid of the financial problems of the older firms:
- „There must be about 30 companies with names that include „Gold Coast” because he ended up in a situation where he could no longer finance or no one would work in the companies that had already run out of money and he would automatically start new companies.”
Răzvan Băncescu also claims that, in reality, Dragoș Sprînceană no longer has access to Donald Trump’s close circles:
- „He had access in the first term, in the second echelon let’s say. He’s still a member of the Republican Party, anyone can be, he was also a donor, that’s how he managed to get the first picture with Trump, which is the only one, in his first term. But after that things broke down and he was removed, isolated.”
US financial and judicial documents consulted by G4Media show that some companies in the Gold Coast portfolio, owned by businessman Dragoș Sprînceană, are being sued for tens of millions of euros by other companies in a series of lawsuits.
Moreover, dozens of negative reviews are registered on social networks (e.g. LinkedIn) and Google Maps from people claiming to be former employees or collaborators and accusing the company or Dragoș Sprînceană of owing them money.
Contacted by G4Media reporters, Dragoș Sprînceană did not answer questions about the financial situation of the companies and the accusations made by former employees and collaborators:
- „My answer: Instead of asking me what can I do to help Romania you make do this good for nothing CanCan with all kinds of false information. Shameful. This is why we are where we are as a country,” Sprînceană told reporters.
Freemasonry, the „godfather” in the Ministry of Digitization and other links with politicians
According to information obtained by G4Media, Dragoș Sprînceană got to talk to Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu about the possibility of being „Romania’s emissary” in the relationship with the Trump administration through former Minister of Culture Lucian Romașcanu „via Freemasonry”.
Contacted by reporters, Lucian Romașcanu vehemently denied that he is a member of Freemasonry and did not want to give details about the US episode:
- „I do not comment on anything about the USA. Instead if you write a single letter saying I’m a mason we will see each other in court and it will be expensive. I have not had such a dialog with the press, I worked 20 years in the media but everything has a limit. I WAS NOT, AM NOT AND WILL NOT BE A MASON. I hope that is clear. Thank you,” Romașcanu told G4Media reporters.
Dragoș Sprînceană did not answer questions about Freemasonry or about the context in which he came to talk with Prime Minister Ciolacu, but photos from the Masonic conference on February 16-18, 2020 (Louisville Marriott), chaired by Keith Newton, Grand Master of Ohio, show Dragoș Sprînceană at the conference of the Grand Masters of Masons of North America, Louisville, Kentucky (2020).
Moreover, Dragoș Sprînceană has allegedly set up a Masonic lodge in Constanța (Poseidon), helped by his friend Silviu Pocora, in order to later set up a similar lodge in the USA (Miami) and thus become the representative of Romanian Freemasonry in the USA, sources close to Dragoș Sprînceană and Silviu Pocora explained to G4Media. The Constanța lodge also includes well-known politicians and businessmen, especially from PSD or close to PSD.
Contacted by G4Media reporters, Silviu Pocora said that he is in very close relations with Dragoș Sprînceană, but that he did not marry him, as rumored locally, since the businessman calls Pocora his „godfather”.
Pocora was the vice-president of the National Gambling Office, then interim head of the institution since April 2024, after the scandal of the appointment of Cristian Gabriel Pascu, the barber with a hairdresser’s degree obtained at the age of 32 at a private university.
Currently, Silviu Pocora is the Director General of the National Radiocommunications Company (Radiocom), within the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitalization.
- „On very good terms. Sort of (I’m his godfather, editor’s note). That’s how he sees me. I’m not really, I didn’t have that role, but that’s how he considers me (…),” Pocora told G4Media, referring to his relationship with Dragoș Sprînceană.
He also said that he did not know that Sprînceană had financial problems with his companies, but he also said that he was surprised when he found out from the media that he was proposed as an emissary:
- „(…) I was also surprised by the statements he made, we did not discuss this topic (about the „emissary to the US” episode, ed. note) and we are not discussing it. I didn’t know that he was a proposed emissary and I found out from the news (…) I don’t know if he has any financial problems, at least he didn’t tell me and I didn’t feel that he has any (regarding Sprînceană’s companies in the US, ed. note)”, Silviu Pocora told G4Media.
Pocora borrowed from Dragoș Sprînceană in 2021, according to his declaration of assets, $140,000, which he is to repay by 2030. In his declaration of interests he noted that he is a member of the Masonic lodge „Ex Oriente Lux”.
According to G4Media sources, another person who would have helped Sprînceană to create links in the political and administrative environment at the central level is Carmen Drăgan, the mother-in-law of Silviu Pocora, who was secretary general of the National Agency of Public Servants, later transferred director of the General Services Directorate of the Presidential Administration – General Secretariat of the Presidential Administration, and is currently an advisor to the Court of Auditors.
Contacted by G4Media reporters, Carmen Dragan denied that she knew Dragoș Sprînceană:
- „I have never met, I don’t know and I haven’t interacted with Mr. Dragoș Sprânceană and, consequently, I have no relationship with him. At the same time I would like to make it clear that nobody, in any way, has ever asked me to help him with anything”, Carmen Drăgan said.
Another character in Sprînceană’s entourage is the Constanța businessman Marius Stamate, also a Freemason according to his declaration of interests, with a large fortune, several real estate properties , including a house in Miami.
Stamate, who recently became a county councillor for the PSD Constanța, noted in his declaration of assets that he lent 350,000 dollars to Dragoș Sprînceană.
Last but not least, according to photos obtained by G4Media, Sprînceană appears with Rareș Bogdan, PNL’s first vice-president, other PNL politicians, Titus Corlățean (PSD) and other influential Romanian entourages.
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