What information has the Public Prosecutor's Office received on the "Barcelonagate" investigation?
219 pages of information on the so-called "Barcelonagate Affair" have been received by the Bulgarian Specialised Prosecutor's Office from the Spanish authorities. The Spanish authorities have already executed one of the two European investigation warrants that the public prosecution sent.
The information is in Spanish and the supervising prosecutor has ordered that a translation be made by a sworn translator within a short time. The prosecutor's office also said that the Ministry of Interior had not yet sent the report, which was received by the ministry, but today, February 15, they received a 26-page report from the State Agency for National Security.
The Public Prosecutor's Office has sent two European investigation warrants to the Spanish authorities. According to the rules, they were sent via Eurojust and the response to one of the warrants arrived at the Specialised Prosecutor's Office yesterday.
As the investigation is about alleged money laundering by Bulgarian citizens on Spanish territory, the questions are related to lifting bank secrecy, transaction data, property transactions, as well as questioning witnesses.
There was an investigation in Spain, but it was closed and sent to Bulgaria because the investigators in the Iberian Peninsula considered that if money laundering was proven, it was committed by Bulgarian citizens.
The execution of European Investigation Orders is linked to the fulfilment of the requirements of the law in Spain for the collection of evidence that is valid for presentation in court. One of the most lengthy procedures is obtaining judicial authorisation for the disclosure of banking and tax secrets.
"One of the European Investigation Warrants has been prepared and yesterday 219 pages in Spanish were received by the Specialised Prosecutor's Office in relation to a European Investigation Warrant prepared and sent by the Specialised Prosecutor's Office," said Hristo Krastev, spokesman for the Specialised Prosecutor's Office.
The Spanish authorities have sent requested information on the disclosure of bank secrecy, specific transactions between commercial companies and private individuals, data on transactions with movable and immovable property, as well as witness interviews.
The execution of the second European investigation order, which, according to our information, also requested the provision of tax and social security information, is also pending. At the beginning of February, following statements for the media by Minister of Interior, Boyko Rashkov, that the Ministry of Interior had received information from Spain, the supervising prosecutor requested this data from the Ministry of Interior.
"A deadline has been given in the letter until 11 February to submit them. As of now, the prosecutor's office has not received any information from the Ministry of Interior," added Hristo Krastev, spokesman for the Specialized Prosecutor's Office.
Due to the allegations that there is a response about "Barcelonagate" from Spain in the SANS, the prosecutor's office has also requested the materials received in the Agency.
"At the same time, today we received materials from SANS, which are in English. But unfortunately they do not indicate in any way who is the issuer of these documents.. It is noteworthy that the document is in English, not in Spanish. They include, I should like to emphasise, 26 pages. There are photographs and text. The photos are from media publications in Bulgaria and in the Kingdom of Spain," added Hristo Krastev.
SANS has requested additional information on who requested the information and on what grounds, as well as from whom the information was obtained and who the source was. According to the prosecutor's office, this is necessary in order to assess whether the law allows this data to be admitted as evidence in the investigation.
Krustev showed the last page, which had neither the signature of the person who prepared the report nor the seal of the institution that sent it. BNT learned that the 26-page report, which was sent to the Ministry of Interior and SANS, contains data on registered commercial companies and information from media publications.
It concludes that two real estate investments were made for a total of 5 million euros. They were made through multiple transactions, leading to the conclusion of an alleged offence of international money laundering.
The prosecutor's office announced that all those involved in the affair, including former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, Borislava Yovcheva and all those linked to her, have been interviewed during the investigation in the country.
Expert basements in Bulgaria are also ready, but their results must be analysed together with the information provided by the Spanish authorities, including that of the lifted bank secrecy.
"I dare say that 90% of the actions of the investigation have been carried out. We are about to analyse the 219 pages of information we have received from Spain and execute the second European Investigation Order," said Hristo Krastev, spokesman for the Specialised Prosecutor's Office.
If the evidence sent by Spain warrants it, then it may be necessary to re-examine some of those who have already given evidence or to interview more people.
