 As Minister of Interior he contributed to the country's denazification and later to the reorganization of the law enforcement system along the Soviet model, supervising the establishment of several penal colonies and coordinating a dekulakization campaign.Along Gheorghiu-Dej, Pauker, and Vasile Luca, he was considered one of leaders directing the new regime's policy, as highlighted by the popular epigram "Ana, Luca, Teo, Dej / Bagă spaima în burgheji" (Ana, Luca, Teo[hari], Dej / Put the fear into the bourgeois").In January 1952, General Secretary Gheorghiu-Dej travelled to Moscow to seek Joseph Stalin's approval for purging the leadership of the Romanian Communist Party, accusing Pauker, Luca, and Georgescu of fomenting factional intrigue; Vyacheslav Molotov intervened on behalf of Pauker, whereas Lavrentiy Beria defended Georgescu.