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Hotels and luxury residential complexes in the most important locations in Romania. A grandiose real estate project, which was promoted using national symbols and pressing the most sensitive emotional buttons in Romanian society: the sea, the mountains, a country by Western standards. Nordis spread these ideas through an intensive marketing campaign. It bought ads and TV shows, full pages in magazines and newspapers, articles in online media. All featured models of future luxury constructions and talked about the sea viewed through glass walls or the mountains admired from a heated jacuzzi with a glass of champagne in hand. To convey confidence, Nordis convinced famous stars and athletes to associate their image with its real estate projects. He partnered with the Romanian Football Federation and put his name on the referees' shirts in League 1. Hundreds of Romanians flocked to buy apartments and, in exchange for a discount, most agreed to pay them in advance, signing only a promise to sell. In recent years, millions and millions of euros have flowed into Nordis' accounts, but most of the promised residential complexes remained only on paper and in advertisements. In the Mamaia hotel, the only completed building, there are strong indications that the apartments were sold several times to different people. This entire fraudulent scheme would not have been possible without the major weaknesses in the Romanian legislation, but the politician who should correct these laws is strongly connected to the Nordis business. Vladimir Ciorbă, the main associate of the company, is married to Laura Vicol, one of the most influential PSD parliamentarians. Vicol leads the Legal Committee in the Chamber of Deputies, which has a key role in the legislative process in Parliament. How big is the size of this business and how far the political connections extend you can find out in this investigation. --------------------- Recorder is an online publication built by a team of journalists around these principles: honest journalism, done with passion and put in public service. Our content is free, but it wouldn't be possible without people paying for it. Journalists' salaries, travel in the country and all other expenses necessary for the operation of a newsroom are supported by readers' donations. You can find all support options here: https://bit.ly/3QRzRkA