Who is the Bulgarian Krasimir Kamenov – Kuro, murdered in Cape Town, South Africa?

Krassimir Kamenov, nicknamed Kuro, and his wife were shot dead in Cape Town, South Africa. Kamenov was circulated as wanted on an Interpol red notice and is accused in Bulgaria of murdering a police officer. He has recently been implicated in a large-scale plot to discredit senior magistrates, including Prosecutor General, Ivan Geshev.

Wanted by Interpol Bulgarian Krasimir Kamenov-Kuro and his wife murdered in their home in South Africa

Shortly before 8:30 in the morning. Four bodies with gunshot wounds have been found in a house in Cape Town. All aged between 40 and 50. Two of the dead were Bulgarian businessman, wanted on an Interpol red notice, Krasimir Kamenov - Kuro and his wife. The second woman shot dead is believed to be their housekeeper and the identity of the other man is being clarified.

So far, no official information from the relevant authorities in the country of accreditation has been received by the Bulgarian foreign mission, which has established and is maintaining operational contact with the competent authorities and services, the Foreign Ministry said on May 25.

"For the past two years the Prosecutor's office has been saying what is happening now is that we are returning to the “mutri (thugs) years” (referring to the murky post-Socialist underworld of the 1990s when the “mutri” were involved in activities of varying degrees of unlawfulness) as a result of the war against the judiciary, the attempts to control the judiciary and the deliberate destruction of institutions in the interests of perhaps what the Bulgarian citizens call organised crime, mafia, oligarchy, I will not use stronger words," said Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev.

Businessman Krassimir Kamenov's name has been linked to a number of high-profile crimes. In March 2022, former police officer Lyubomir Ivanov was ostentatiously shot dead in Sofia. Shortly afterwards, two men were arrested - the physical perpetrator and the accomplice.

"The main motive on which the investigation is working is unsettled financial relations, but it is a criminal activity," said Petar Petrov – Sofia Directorate of the Ministry of Interior.

“We are working on different versions, but I will not name a specific guilty party," said Petar Todorov, the Ministry of Interior’s secretary general.

Krasimir Kamenov-Kuro was accused of ordering the murder of the former policeman in Lozenets

At the end of the year, police entered properties and warehouses linked to the businessman known as Kuro. And in March 2023, it became known that he was charged in absentia by the Prosecutor's office as the person who ordered the murder of the former policeman.

"The indictment is very substantiated. By the way, I do not exclude the possibility that within the framework of this investigation several more contract killings may come out, from the recent and not so recent past," said Borislav Sarafov, Deputy Chief Prosecutor and director of the National Investigation Service.

A few days earlier, the Prosecutor's office implicated Kamenov as part of a conspiracy involving other criminals, as well as defendants such as former banker Tsvetan Vassilev, in a plot to discredit senior magistrates and police officers, including the Prosecutor General. Investigators then came across lists of names and recordings of people being considered for removal from their jobs.

In late April, he was circulated as wanted on an Interpol red notice for alleged murder, threat to kill and extortion. According to BNT sources, Kuro is also being investigated for links to more murders, including that of VIS boss Meto Ilienski.