Sergiu Băhăian

Sergiu Băhăian is a Romanian businessman, convicted fraudster, and Romanian prosecutors allege, the leader of a criminal organization responsible for the killing of at least four people.

Background Băhăian became notable in the 1990s when he scammed over 5,000 people with bad checks though his company Sabina Product, which is considered one of the biggest financial scandals in Romania during that decade. According to Realitatea TV news portal, in 1998 he defrauded a German business partner of 130,000 marks and 4,000 dollars, but was released soon after his arrest.

According to the newspaper Adevărul, in 2009 Băhăian bought the football club Gloria Buzău through a front company that had 200 lei worth of assets. Although he appeared at a few games, Băhăian avoided being officially identified as the owner of the club.

At the time of his 2010 arrest, Sergiu Băhăian had 1,600 friends on Facebook.

In April 2013, the High Court of Cassation and Justice rejected his appeal, upholding the sentence to 26 years in prison for murder, organized crime and fraud. The appeals of his two main accomplices, Valentin Șlepac and Adrian Grigoraș were not considered because they had already died in jail; they had been sentenced to life and respectively 22 years. Three more of Băhăian's accomplices, Edward Marian Mărculescu, Dan Liviu Iovan, and George Florian Oprea, also saw their sentences upheld to 13 and a half years, 13 years, and respectively 5 years in prison. In 2020, Băhăian's sentence was set to 30 years; as of 2025, he is incarcerated at Jilava Prison, where he is being treated for terminal cancer.