Presshub received a statement signed by Kim Westfall, founder of the American organization UNCAGED. Until recently, the American organization was the main funder of the WorldTeach Association led by Beniamin Lup, whose mission is to combat human trafficking. At the same time, UNCAGED, which transferred around $1 million annually to the WorldTeach Association’s account, paid Lup separately as European director of UNCAGED.
Presshub’s 2022 investigations, which can be read here, raised questions about the accuracy of the figures presented by Beniamin Lup on the website and on social media, as well as about the actual situation of the Butterfly Sanctuary in Zolt, which was supposed to house and treat people rescued from trafficking.
It was now the turn of the American funder to carefully analyze how the money generously sent to Romania and the Republic of Moldova had been spent.
”UNCAGED has completed a comprehensive ten-month internal review of certain activities involving its former European Director, who was relieved of their duties in October 2024. Based on the findings of this review, UNCAGED has submitted formal complaints to the relevant authorities in Romania and the Republic of Moldova, requesting an impartial evaluation and any appropriate measures deemed necessary by those authorities”, sais the organization.
At the same time, the organization informs us that it is in litigation with Beniamin Lup ”to regain rightful access to its aftercare facility for trafficking victims in Romania. The property, funded by generous donors for survivor care, remains in dispute due to the actions of the former European Director”.
The Romanian court portal shows that case no. 915/832/2025 is registered with the Făget Court of Law for the amendment of the articles of the WorldTeach Association, with a new hearing scheduled for October 7. For the time being, the executive director and chairman of the General Assembly (GA) is still Beniamin Lup, and members of his family are members of the management.
Also pending before the Făget Court is case no. 1168/832/2025, in which Kim Westfall, as a member of the GA of the WorldTeach Association, is seeking through his lawyer the annulment of certain decisions taken in March 2025 by the GMS and the Board of Directors. On September 1, the court granted the request, and the decision paves the way for Beniamin Lup’s removal from the association’s leadership. The decision may be appealed.
”Uncaged continues to pursue every legal avenue available to ensure the facility is restored to its intended purpose and protected from misuse”, underlines the statement.
Kim Westfall assures us that his organization is committed to the search for truth and also that the internal investigation „identified matters that warranted referral to the appropriate authorities for further examination”, without providing specific information so as not to prejudice ongoing legal proceedings.
Beniamin Lup’s reactions are public on social media, where he posts targeted texts almost daily, such as this one on TikTok: „The profiteers and manipulators who want to climb on the back of your decades of work and steal the portfolio of work you and your team have put in will do everything in their power to defame you, spread all kinds of lies about you, and make you give up. If they fail, they will hire fugitive investigators hiding in the Balkans, who will present themselves as killers paid by various governments. They will send so-called directors from I don’t know what agencies to impress you, scare you, blackmail you. … Don’t give in to pressure! They can’t present evidence, they have no evidence. … And then they will try to diminish your value in front of your peers… The wretches will try to buy your family….” And he concludes: „Stand firm on your feet because their filth stinks so badly, their garbage smells so bad that one day they will suffocate in their own filth”.
Investigations into the misterious deaths of the wives continue
Prosecutors in Romania and the Republic of Moldova have opened investigation files to find out the cause of the sudden deaths of two of Beniamin Lup’s wives.
Eugenia, who died at the age of 42 in 2016, is listed in file 1619/P/2024 for „manslaughter,” a case investigated by the Oțelu Roșu Police. Our discussions with the prosecutor in charge of the case, Adriana Popa, revealed that the results of the autopsy are pending. After nine years, Eugenia was exhumed because the medical documents recovered by the police showed that her tests revealed traces of secobarbital, a powerful sedative that can be lethal in high doses, which is why it is used in some countries for assisted death.
In September 2024, Rodica Guțan, Beniamin Lup’s third wife, died in unclear circumstances in Chișinău and was also exhumed shortly after her death. The case is being investigated by the Buiucani Office of the Chișinău Prosecutor’s Office. The file has been transferred to a new prosecutor, Vera Chiranda. Although it will soon be a year since Rodica’s death, prosecutors have not made any spectacular progress, but the investigation continues.
Presshub wrote about the case of the deceased wives here and here.
A whole period, from May 2024 to March 26, 2025, has bizarrely disappeared from Beniamin Lup’s Facebook page. All posts related to Rodica Guțan’s death have been deleted, along with some sharp comments expressing suspicions and asking uncomfortable questions.
Beniamin Lup filed several lawsuits against journalists and media companies that wrote about the case of his deceased wife. He lost the first lawsuit.
How Romanian justice protects a minor child
After Rodica Guțan’s death, two girls were left orphaned: Sofia, a 15-year-old minor, and Cornelia, a 25-year-old adult. Both have dual Moldovan and Romanian citizenship. Sofia is a student at the High School of Fine Arts in Timișoara, while Cornelia is a kindergarden teacher in Chișinău.
Because the situation of their biological father is unclear, the minor is effectively without guardianship. Initially, the older sister began guardianship proceedings in Chișinău, while Beniamin Lup, their mother’s former husband, applied for guardianship of Sofia in Romania, first in Caransebeș, then in Timișoara.
Cornelia Guțan received positive references, and a visit by the Chișinău Child Protection Agency to the three-room apartment confirmed good living conditions. However, at one point she gave up and withdrew the action. Minor Sofia Guțan opted, as evidenced by discussions with the guardianship institutions, to live with her stepfather in Timișoara in order to attend school in that city.
Cornelia Guțan had made statements to the police regarding her mother’s death and had provided evidence suggesting Beniamin Lup as a suspect. The situation is strange because she now frequently appears on Facebook in the company of Beniamin Lup and has filed complaints against those who helped her in the guardianship proceedings.
It should be noted that Rodica Guțan’s estate is substantial—a villa and a three-room apartment—much of which was her contribution to her marriage to Beniamin Lup.
The Timișoara Court of Law admitted in case file 6842/208/2024 that Beniamin Lup be granted custody of the minor Sofia Guțan, establishing her residence at Lup’s home, as well as the exercise of parental rights and duties regarding the person and property of the minor. Both the information held by the Timiș Child Protection Agency and the documents sent to Timișoara by the counterpart agency in Chișinău attest that these institutions were aware of the uncertain circumstances surrounding Rodica Guțan’s death, that there was an ongoing investigation, and that Beniamin Lup was the only person who witnessed Rodica’s death. The Timiș Child Protection Agency participated in the guardianship proceedings for the minor.
The Timișoara Court rejected our request to access the guardianship file under Law 544/2001, on the grounds that the proceedings took place in the Council Chamber and that the child’s private life is protected by confidentiality.
Threats from fake email addresses
From Phoenix, Arizona, Presshub was contacted by Adrian Niculae, a Romanian-born American citizen, who reported a disturbing case of fake correspondence and sent extensive documentation as evidence. He received a series of defamatory emails at his private address from simona.accesdirect@proton.me, which claimed to have been sent by Simona Gherghe, the host of the show Acces direct on Antena 1.
Although Simona Gherghe had not produced this show for six years, the messages sent to Adrian Niculae claimed that there was a DIICOT investigation and that serious revelations would be made on the show and on the Cancan magazine website. One of the absurd claims was that Niculae had ties to the Tate brothers. Threatening emails were also sent from the same address to Adrian’s wife, Stella Niculae. For example, on May 31, 2025, a purported press release contained defamatory statements about the Niculae family.
Subsequently, emails began to be sent to various acquaintances from a fake address, adrianniculae74@proton.me as if they had been sent by the owner, with the aim of causing confusion and mistrust. It should be noted that the addresses are configured with the @proton.me ending to make them more difficult to trace.
I contacted Adrian Niculae for a statement: „I have filed several complaints about these fake emails, and I have also notified Simona Gherghe that her name is being used. I suspect that Beniamin Lup is behind the campaign, because I contributed to the investigations targeting him in connection with the deaths of Eugenia and Rodica. I met Eugenia when I was still living in Romania. In fact, Beniamin Lup sent me threats through third parties that were identical to those in the emails.”
This is not the first case in which Beniamin Lup has been reported as a suspect in sending messages from fake addresses. Valentin Malanca, an operative officer at ISU Timiș, Emergency Service 112, told us that he was the target of a perfidious game with fake addresses. „I went to the police and the prosecutor’s office with the dirty tricks Beniamin Lup played on me. He created a fake email address in my name. He used the name valentin.malanca1973@gmail.com, from which he began sending salacious emails to several people, including the management of the institution where I work,” Malanca told us. He received one such message while he was at the police station to report the situation.
Valentin Malanca divorced his wife, Denisa, after she joined Beniamin Lup’s WorldTeach Association and he suspected her of infidelity. His suspicions began when Denisa started receiving expensive gifts from her boss: a €10,000 car, a TV etc.
As the Malanca-Lup conflict escalated, compromising messages began to flow from fake addresses, affecting Valentin Malanca’s status at work and in society. It remains for the specialized police to search for the source of these emails and for the author to be punished.
