The ringleader of a Romanian grooming gang that preyed on vulnerable women in Dundee was offered a £1,500 payment to be deported while awaiting trial for ten rapes, it has been revealed.
Marian Cumpanasoiu, 38, led a group that systematically groomed, drugged, and raped women in the Scottish city between 2021 and 2022. Despite the gravity of the charges against him, he was handed a 'voluntary return form' in August 2024 while in prison, under a government scheme that encourages foreign criminals to return to their home country.
A Web of Exploitation and Abuse
The court heard how the gang targeted women aged between 16 and 30, luring them with gifts, crack cocaine, and whisky. Once intoxicated, the victims were forced to take part in degrading 'sex games' in squalid flats and were pimped out to paying clients.
One victim was trafficked into prostitution after Cumpanasoiu and an associate, Remus Stan, 35, created an online profile for her and drove her to meet men for sex. A harrowing video found on Cumpanasoiu's phone showed him threatening one victim, who was climbing a tree, by saying, 'Because you do not make money, you stay all day in the tree.'
Police Scotland uncovered the gang's activities during an operation focused on the trafficking of women from Eastern Europe. However, they discovered that local vulnerable women were also being exploited.
Shocking Legal Twists and Sentencing
In a further twist, it emerged at sentencing that Cumpanasoiu's right to remain in the UK had been automatically renewed under the EU settlement scheme, despite his pre-settled status being due to expire. This status has since been revoked, and he is set to be deported after serving his sentence.
Although Cumpanasoiu had expressed a desire to accept the £1,500 deportation offer, the plan was blocked. He was subsequently found guilty and handed a 24-year extended sentence for a catalogue of sexual and trafficking offences.
He was jailed alongside four associates: Christian Urlateanu, 41, Alexandra Bugonea, 35, Remus Stan, 35, and Cataline Dobre, 45. The group was convicted of multiple rapes and other serious sexual crimes.
A Pattern of Grooming Gang Crimes
This case is the latest in a series of grooming gang prosecutions across the UK. Just weeks before, an Asian grooming gang in Rochdale was jailed for a total of 174 years, and last month, five men from Romania and Albania were convicted of serious sex offences against teenagers in Gateshead.
Sentencing the Dundee gang, Judge Lord Scott stated that the offenders had 'participated in the serious sexual abuse and exploitation of vulnerable and mostly young women,' exploiting their 'difficult family circumstances and use of drugs.'
A Home Office spokesman confirmed: 'This man will serve his sentence for the abhorrent crimes he committed and will be considered for deportation at the earliest opportunity.'
