Romanian PM Victor Ponta facing graft trial

Romania's Prime Minister Victor Ponta is to be tried for corruption, anti-graft prosecutors said yesterday -- the first head of the country's government ever to be put in the dock while still in office.

The 42-year-old Social Democratic leader, who denies the charges, has been accused of fraud, tax evasion and money laundering dating back to 2007, five years before he became prime minister.

Ponta -- once Europe's youngest national leader -- was taking part in a special meeting of the country's defence council on the migrant crisis hitting the EU when prosecutors from the DNA anti-corruption agency made the announcement.

The agency said some of his assets have been frozen pending the outcome of the case when they charged him on Monday.

The investigation has sparked calls for Ponta to resign, but he has refused to do so, firmly denying the allegations and promising to cooperate with the probe.

The money laundering and tax evasion allegations relate to his activities as a lawyer.

Ponta is accused of receiving the equivalent of around $61,000 from Dan Sova, a political ally and member of parliament suspected by prosecutors of abuse of power but who also enjoys immunity. Sova was named a minister three times by Ponta before resigning in 2014.

Dozens of former politicians and judges have been swept up in investigations launched by the anti-corruption agency in one of Europe's poorest and graft-plagued countries.