More charges pressed after Prosecutor’s office operation in gambling commission

The businessman Vasil Bozhkov offered a bribe of 10,000 BGN a day to a responsible official at the State Commission on Gambling, prosecutors said on January 30. Former Chairman of the Commission Ognemir Mitev has also been detained in the investigation. The state public prosecution claims that he was part of Bozhkov's group and did not control the revenue from the businessman's lotteries. The other defendants in the case are three business partners in Bozhkov's gambling business.

Prosecutors say the group of Vasil Bozhkov has been active since the beginning of 2014 and was allegedly involved in blackmail, coercion, malfeasance, tax crimes and money laundering.

In addition to the businessman, former chairman of the State Commission on Gambling Ognemir Mitev is alleged to have played a role in it. He became the head of the commission in August 2013 and according to the prosecution, he did not fulfill his obligations to control Bozhkov's gambling business, did not check how the fees were calculated, and thus the lotteries paid 20% on the commission and not 15% of all bets as the law provides for.

Ventsislav Ferdinandov, Prosecutor at the Specialized Prosecutor's Office: All this was done on the order and decision of the organized crime group, and the accused Bozhkov was the instigator of this. In this sense, both him and this official from the commission on gambling have been indicted for committing a crime under Art. 282.

Siika Mileva, Spokesperson for the Chief Prosecutor: A huge sum of over half a billion BGN is missing, The amount is equal to the amount allocated for Christmas bonuses for pensioners for 10 years. The prosecution is aware of who it has to deal with. The prosecution knows that this gambling empire has enormous financial resources and knows that thanks to that, it will be protected, including through you, the media.

According to investigators, after Ognemir Mitev was fired from the post in early 2018, Bozhkov sought another official through which to have influence in the commission.

Siika Mileva, Spokesperson of the Chief Prosecutor: The accused Bozhkov offered a gift of a sum of BGN 10 ,000 every day to an official of the Gambling Commission, who in turn would submit to the commision proposals for revocation of licenses of competing companies.

Many works of art were seized from the homes and offices of Bozhkov. They are claimed to be owned by the businessman.

According to the state prosecution, some of the evidence indicates that the advertised wins of lottery games are unrealistic.

Ventsislav Ferdinandov, Prosecutor at the Specialized Prosecutor's Office: The persons who are advertised in the public domain as persons who have won a certain amount of money in the lottery games - in fact, many of these persons do not exist in reality.

The prosecution is adamant that there will be more charges and more defendants in the investigation, some of whom will be civil servants.

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Yesterday, January 29, the Prosecutor’s Office pressed charges against businessman Vassil Bozhkov on seven counts.

The news came amid a law enforcement operation in Sofia targeting officials from the State Commission on Gambling.

Bozhkov, whose Nove Holding owns Lottery Bulgaria and National Lottery, has been circulated as internationally wanted, because he has left Bulgaria.

He is accused of masterminding an organized crime group and engaging in coercion, blackmail, attempted bribery of a public official and incitement to commit malfeasance in office.

Also on January 29, officials of the Special Prosecutor's Office and Ministry of Interior took for questioning the head of the State Commission on Gambling, the head of control of the State Commission on Gambling and more than 10 officials of the commission.