Bucharest man wrongly jailed for a month after thief allegedly used his identity

A Bucharest man spent nearly a month in jail for a theft he did not commit after the real suspect allegedly gave police his identity details.

The case began on 28 November 2024, when police from Section 2 investigated the theft of goods from a company in a shopping centre in Sector 1. Officers identified a man they suspected of carrying out the theft, but he had no identity document. Police asked him to provide his personal details, and, according to the Bucharest General Police Directorate, he allegedly gave them another person’s information.

Officers found someone with those details in their databases and continued the criminal investigation under that person’s identity. The wrongly identified man was detained for 24 hours and then placed under judicial supervision for 60 days. When he stopped reporting to police, as required, an arrest warrant was issued.

The problem was that he had not committed the theft and had been in Austria when it occurred. After returning to Romania, he was arrested and remained in custody for almost a month. Investigators later checked surveillance footage, which showed that the man in custody was not the person who allegedly committed the theft.

The Bucharest police leadership ordered an internal review of the initial identification and whether officers followed procedures. The review also seeks to establish the real suspect’s identity and clarify how the two men were confused. Separately, a prosecutor launched an inquiry on suspicion of identity fraud. The case is being investigated by the Prosecutor’s Office attached to Sector 1 District Court together with the relevant police unit.