Driver sleepless with worry after Ionescu told him car had been stolen
By Teh Joo Lin 10 March 2010
When Romanian driver Marius Trusca first heard from former diplomat Silviu Ionescu that the embassy’s Audi A6 car had been stolen, he was worried as the car was his responsibility.
But anxiety turned to confusion six hours later when his boss told him to search for the car only in the area just outside the embassy - around Jalan Harom Setangkai, the small lane off Farrer Road that leads to the embassy.
‘We did not go out of the way,’ he told the State Coroner yesterday at an inquiry into the death of a Malaysian man, who had been knocked down along Bukit Panjang Road by the embassy’s Audi last December.
Mr. Trusca, 43, said: ‘I felt puzzled as to why we had to look for the car here when it had already been stolen.’
The black car was later found abandoned in Sungei Kadut, some 15km away from the embassy and about 4km from the site of the early morning hit-and- run.
Mr. Trusca, who was allowed by his government to testify in the inquiry after it lifted his diplomatic immunity, was sleeping inside the two-storey embassy building at the time of the accident.
Dr. Ionescu called his driver three times within half an hour that morning.
The first call came at about 3.30am, about 20 minutes after the accident, and lasted for barely a few seconds.
All the former diplomat uttered was ‘something happened’ in Romanian, before cutting the line.
When he called again, he told the driver that the embassy car had been stolen.
Mr. Trusca said: ‘Dr. Ionescu did not elaborate more after saying that, and he put down the phone again.’
At 3.59am, the former charge d’affaires rang for the third time.
This time, he instructed Mr. Trusca not to call the police as he had already informed them of the theft.
The calls left the driver wracked with worry as the car was under his charge.
‘I could not sleep after that. I stayed awake throughout at the embassy,’ he said.
The next morning, he picked up Dr. Ionescu from his condominium in River Valley using a second embassy car, a BMW.
On the way to the embassy, Dr. Ionescu asked him to ‘look around’ for the ‘stolen’ car. But the search was restricted to near where the embassy was located.
Dr. Ionescu had told reporters after the accident that he and his driver discovered the car missing when they came out of the embassy at about 3am.
Mr. Trusca said he last drove the car on the evening of Dec 14, when he ferried Dr. Ionescu and Korean soprano Jeong Ae Ree to the Shangri-La Hotel for a function.
After the function - which was to commemorate Kazakhstan’s national day - Mr. Trusca drove them back to Dr. Ionescu’s condominium, where he removed the Romanian flag from the car before handing over the car to his superior.
Asked by State Coroner Victor Yeo why the flag was removed, Mr. Trusca explained that the flag was put on only when the car was being used for official functions.
He said through an interpreter: ‘He can’t drive with the flag around for private matters.’
That evening, Mr. Trusca also left his car key behind for Dr. Ionescu as the former diplomat did not have his key with him.
Mr. Trusca then drove the BMW, which he had earlier parked at the condominium, back to the embassy.
When he drove Dr. Ionescu to Sungei Kadut after the Audi was found the next day, Mr. Trusca said Dr. Ionescu used his own key to unlock the abandoned Audi for police officers.
Mr. Trusca told the court the former diplomat had never mentioned to him that his key was missing.
Despite the damaged condition of the Audi, Dr. Ionescu told his driver to drive the car back from Sungei Kadut to the embassy.
While the court had set aside 10 more days next month to hear from the unusually large crop of witnesses for a coroner’s inquiry, the hearing is expected to end today after six days.
Only two police officers, out of a total list of 55 witnesses, have yet to take the stand.
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Envoy called driver 3 times in 30 minutes
Driver sleepless with worry after Ionescu told him car had been stolen
By Teh Joo Lin
10 March 2010
When Romanian driver Marius Trusca first heard from former diplomat Silviu Ionescu that the embassy’s Audi A6 car had been stolen, he was worried as the car was his responsibility.
But anxiety turned to confusion six hours later when his boss told him to search for the car only in the area just outside the embassy - around Jalan Harom Setangkai, the small lane off Farrer Road that leads to the embassy.
‘We did not go out of the way,’ he told the State Coroner yesterday at an inquiry into the death of a Malaysian man, who had been knocked down along Bukit Panjang Road by the embassy’s Audi last December.
Mr. Trusca, 43, said: ‘I felt puzzled as to why we had to look for the car here when it had already been stolen.’
The black car was later found abandoned in Sungei Kadut, some 15km away from the embassy and about 4km from the site of the early morning hit-and- run.
Mr. Trusca, who was allowed by his government to testify in the inquiry after it lifted his diplomatic immunity, was sleeping inside the two-storey embassy building at the time of the accident.
Dr. Ionescu called his driver three times within half an hour that morning.
The first call came at about 3.30am, about 20 minutes after the accident, and lasted for barely a few seconds.
All the former diplomat uttered was ‘something happened’ in Romanian, before cutting the line.
When he called again, he told the driver that the embassy car had been stolen.
Mr. Trusca said: ‘Dr. Ionescu did not elaborate more after saying that, and he put down the phone again.’
At 3.59am, the former charge d’affaires rang for the third time.
This time, he instructed Mr. Trusca not to call the police as he had already informed them of the theft.
The calls left the driver wracked with worry as the car was under his charge.
‘I could not sleep after that. I stayed awake throughout at the embassy,’ he said.
The next morning, he picked up Dr. Ionescu from his condominium in River Valley using a second embassy car, a BMW.
On the way to the embassy, Dr. Ionescu asked him to ‘look around’ for the ‘stolen’ car. But the search was restricted to near where the embassy was located.
Dr. Ionescu had told reporters after the accident that he and his driver discovered the car missing when they came out of the embassy at about 3am.
Mr. Trusca said he last drove the car on the evening of Dec 14, when he ferried Dr. Ionescu and Korean soprano Jeong Ae Ree to the Shangri-La Hotel for a function.
After the function - which was to commemorate Kazakhstan’s national day - Mr. Trusca drove them back to Dr. Ionescu’s condominium, where he removed the Romanian flag from the car before handing over the car to his superior.
Asked by State Coroner Victor Yeo why the flag was removed, Mr. Trusca explained that the flag was put on only when the car was being used for official functions.
He said through an interpreter: ‘He can’t drive with the flag around for private matters.’
That evening, Mr. Trusca also left his car key behind for Dr. Ionescu as the former diplomat did not have his key with him.
Mr. Trusca then drove the BMW, which he had earlier parked at the condominium, back to the embassy.
When he drove Dr. Ionescu to Sungei Kadut after the Audi was found the next day, Mr. Trusca said Dr. Ionescu used his own key to unlock the abandoned Audi for police officers.
Mr. Trusca told the court the former diplomat had never mentioned to him that his key was missing.
Despite the damaged condition of the Audi, Dr. Ionescu told his driver to drive the car back from Sungei Kadut to the embassy.
While the court had set aside 10 more days next month to hear from the unusually large crop of witnesses for a coroner’s inquiry, the hearing is expected to end today after six days.
Only two police officers, out of a total list of 55 witnesses, have yet to take the stand.
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