Harvard University's Romanian timberland investments have put it at the center of an international bribery and money laundering scandal.
Romanian authorities last week arrested a former Harvard investment agent on charges that he accepted $1.3 million in bribes, a Canary Islands trip and a Chrysler Sebring for facilitating the university's purchase of woodlands at artificially inflated prices.
Dragos Lipan Secu allegedly colluded with unnamed sellers of the land that the Harvard-owned Scolopax SRL bought from 2007 to 2009, according to Romanian prosecutors.
"This whole matter harmed Scolopax's shareholders because the forest lands were overpriced, and the difference went to the defendants," said Livia Saplacan, a spokeswoman for the Romanian Anti-Corruption Department.
Harvard said Secu's relationship with Scolopax ended in December 2012. "This matter pertains to actions of an outside contractor who is no longer associated with Harvard Management Co.," spokesman Kevin Galvin said, referring to the firm that manages Harvard's endowment. "We are aware of the allegations and gathering further information."
Harvard is the largest private owner of Romanian forests, with 86,486-plus acres, according to Romanian news reports.
There's a lot of institutional money in timberland, according to Jack Lutz, timberland economist at Rowley's Forest Research Group. "The returns have been decent at times," he said, noting they're less volatile and conserve capital. "It tends to be an inflation hedge." — dgoodison@bostonherald.com
Herald wire services contributed to this report.
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