Dozens of Bulgarians investigated for financial fraud in Germany

Dozens of Bulgarians are under investigation in Germany for financial fraud through online investment platforms. The latest case was this week, when it was revealed that a 34-year-old Bulgarian woman was charged in a 14 million euro fraud case.

The number of people defrauded by such financial pyramids is growing. They include not only Germans, but also Austrians and Swiss.

So far, millions of euros have been siphoned off - mostly people's savings.

Specialised Prosecutor’s offices have been working on these cases in Germany for several years, investigating cybercrime.

Most often, the investigations reach to the level of employees in sales departments. In recent years, there have been several cases in which call centre bosses have been investigated and then convicted in court.

Masterminds are difficult to reach, case law shows. Journalistic investigations in Germany are reaching criminal figures who are based in Israel, Ukraine and Russia.

"Indeed, dozens and in the future perhaps hundreds of Bulgarian citizens will be under investigation. The German Prosecutor's office receives complaints from various German-speaking citizens - Austrians, Swiss. Accordingly, it is conducting investigations against German-speaking employees who have had contact with German citizens, and such employees are both Bulgarian and German citizens. German nationals also worked in call centres. These frauds in Germany are classified as fraud by trade or in an organised crime group and the law provides for a penalty of between one and 15 years of imprisonment," Maria Milusheva, a criminal lawyer in Germany, told BNT.

Case law in Germany shows that such cases are concluded within a few months to a year and a half. The severity of the sentence depends largely on the number of people defrauded and the damage caused.