Born in Horia, Neamț County,[1] Timofte attended the Roman-Vodă High School in Roman[2] and then graduated from the Command and General Staff Faculty of the Military Academy in Bucharest.
[4] In July 2006, together with Foreign Intelligence Service director Gheorghe Fulga [ro] and Direcția Generală de Protecție Internă head Virgil Ardelean, he resigned this office as a result of the controversy generated by the release and disappearance of terrorism suspect Omar Hayssam.
[1] At the time, it was noted that, whereas the three holdovers from previous administrations kept their positions after new President Traian Băsescu praised the intelligence services for returning to Romania in May 2005 three hostages whose kidnapping in Iraq was masterminded by Hayssam, it was also the latter's flight that cost them their jobs.
[5] In June 2009, he was indicted by National Anticorruption Directorate prosecutors for having allegedly purchased his work home at a below-market price—he paid €35,000 for an apartment said to be worth around €200,000;[6][7] the trial began in September.
[8] Three days later, he was buried with military honours in his native village at a funeral attended by some 5,000 people, including locals, county officials, politicians from various parties, SRI commanders, SPP heads, and businesspeople.