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During the
Communist era, wine producers typically made their product in two batches, the second being made by re-distilling the unfermented remainder from the first batch, with a wine of poorer taste and weaker alcohol content resulting. At times, Ștefănescu would add alcohol and chemical components
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vineyards, the director would claim poor production due to "natural disasters", thus leaving a secret surplus. These undeclared wines were then mixed (high quality with low quality), and the brew was sold at inflated prices, with the difference pocketed by Ștefănescu (nicknamed
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the following year and leaving a wife and son. Selling fraudulent wine (a "crime against the socialist order") earned him the death penalty; for his other crimes, treated in nine dossiers, he received only prison terms. Legend has it that, brought before dictator
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first secretaries and directors of government ministries, whom he gave money, jewellery and other bribes to have them look the other way or provide him with the required additives. Over 200 were sent to prison.
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lieutenant purchased wine for his own wedding, which was then delayed. Several weeks later, the officer sampled the wine and noticed that only a watery solution with reddish dregs remained. Over 250
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122:, who asked him what he wished to do with all his money, Ștefănescu replied, "I wanted to overthrow the regime!" An unofficial estimate of the amount of money he cost the Romanian state puts it at
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agents and prosecutors were assigned to the case, and investigators searching Ștefănescu's house found over 18 kg (40 lb) of gold jewellery (worth some
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214:"Românii sunt nostalgici după vinul lui Ştefănescu, zis 'Bachus'" ("Romanians are Nostalgic for the Wine of Ștefănescu, Nicknamed 'Bachus'"
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65:") and his men. In seven years, over 400,000 litres of wine received without documentation were altered. They also mixed
133:("Bachus' Secret") was released based on the case, directed by Geo Saizescu and starring Ștefan Mihăilescu-Brăila.
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cars. In addition to wine stores all over
Bucharest, Bachus' network included everyone from office bosses to
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to enhance the taste of this lower-quality wine and sell it at high-quality wine prices. Fiastru.
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200:"Cele mai mari tunuri din istoria Romaniei" ("The Greatest Swindles in Romanian History")
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businessman at the centre of one of the largest corruption scandals during the
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113:Ştefănescu was tried and sentenced to death in April 1980, being shot at
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in cash and checks. He also had an apartment in
Bucharest, a villa at
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16:
Romanian businessman convicted of bootlegging (1929 - 1981)
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People executed by the
Socialist Republic of Romania
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93:360,000) and between 2.2 and 40 million
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81:Ștefănescu was caught by chance in 1978. A
274:People executed by Romania by firing squad
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212:Mihnea Mihalache Fiastru, Razvan Bică,
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29:(1929 – 14 December 1981) was a
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244:20th-century Romanian businesspeople
126:4.5 million, in 1970s dollars.
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249:Romanian white-collar criminals
264:People executed for corruption
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259:Executed Romanian people
254:Inmates of Jilava Prison
129:In 1984, a film called
44:The administrator of a
19:For the painter, see
131:Secretul lui Bachus
27:Gheorghe Ștefănescu
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120:Nicolae Ceaușescu
21:George Ștefănescu
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48:liquor store on
35:Communist period
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54:Basarab Bridge
50:Calea Griviței
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39:wine industry
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239:1981 deaths
234:1929 births
204:Financiarul
52:, near the
228:Categories
101:, and two
83:Securitate
72:with plum
46:Bucharest
37:, in the
31:Romanian
154:Fiastru
87:militia
58:Cotești
218:Cancan
172:Pastia
99:Breaza
63:Bachus
137:Notes
107:party
75:țuică
70:rakia
67:yeast
103:Lada
95:lei
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159:^
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124:$
91:$
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