Marcel Prodan

Dec. No. 5946/212/2015
Alexandra Stan (right) was involved in the court case along with Marcel Prodan (left).
Court	Curtea de Apel Constanța
Full case name	5946/212/2015
Decided	21 December 2016

Dec. No. 5946/212/2015 refers to a Curtea de Apel Constanța (Constanța Court of Appeal) lawsuit in which Romanian singer Alexandra Stan accused her impresario, Marcel Prodan, of blackmail, battery, deception and tax evasion. Both had been found fighting in a car on the Autostrada Soarelui (Sun Motorway) between Constanța and Valu lui Traian in June 2013, where they were stopped by police officers, and Stan was taken to hospital. The singer appeared on national television with visible evidence of assault on her face, generating media attention in Romania. Observers were generally on Stan's side.

According to the singer, the incident occurred after she asked Prodan for her earnings; reacting violently, he beat her. Prodan said that he had acted in self-defense after Stan hit him in his car and threatened to commit suicide. After several hearings with magistrates, Prodan received a seven-month suspended sentence for "the crime of battery or other violence" and was assessed damages. The court ruled Stan's other accusations to be groundless and she was fined court costs. Prodan's fines were later increased. This decision was handed down by the court on 21 December 2016.

In 2009, Stan was discovered at a karaoke bar by Romanian producers and songwriters Marcel Prodan and Andrei Nemirschi, who offered her a record deal with their label Maan Records. That year she recorded a promotional single, "Show Me The Way". In 2011, Stan's "Mr. Saxobeat" topped the Romanian Top 100 chart for eight consecutive weeks. The song was also commercially successful abroad, topping record charts in Austria, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Slovakia, Switzerland and Turkey. It was the first Romanian song to top the German Singles Chart since O-Zone's "Dragostea Din Tei" in 2004.

According to spokesmen for the Poliţia Judeţeană Constanţa (Constanţa Country Police Department), on 16 June 2013, Stan was picked up from the Autostrada Soarelui (Sun Motorway, connecting the cities of Constanța and Valu lui Traian) at about 19:00 by Poliția Rutieră (traffic police) who saw a man and woman fighting in a car on the shoulder of the motorway. The parties were identified as Stan and Prodan; the singer had visible evidence of physical assault (facial bruises), prompting the police to suggest that she be brought to hospital and possibly file a complaint against her assailant. Stan was taken to Spitalul Clinic Judeţean de Urgenţă Constanţa (Constanța County Emergency Hospital), where she was treated and released.