The deceased mafia boss Philip Naydenov a.k.a Fatik, has been implicated in the trial against 7 people for laundering EU SAPARD Program funds, including Mario Nikolov and Lyudmil Stoykov.

A witness at the Sofia City Court trial, Stoyan Boyadzhiev, said in his testimony that part of the SAPARD subsidies received were given as a loan to the firm of businessman Mario Nikolov. The loan was allegedly taken by Nikolov to improve and modernize the slaughterhouse ‘Chubra’.

Boyadzhiev stated that ‘Chubra’ previously belonged to people close to the late Philip Naydenov - Fatik. He continued that among the largest customers of the slaughterhouse was previously Mario Nikolov himself.

Naydenov, born with the Kurdish name Fatik, was gunned down at a busy Sofia crossing in August 2003. His bodyguard was injured and later found dead.

Nikolov refused to comment on the allegations. He also refused to answer reporters’ questions regarding Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov, who asked President Georgi Parvanov Monday whether Mario Nikolov and Lyudmil Stoykov are considered as "mafia".

The trial continues on 26 November. Mario Nikolov, Luydmil Stoykov and five other defendants are charged with siphoning EUR 7,5 M from the EU SAPARD funds.

Lyudmil Stoykov told reporters in October that he wanted the speedy procedure in order to clear his name and denied allegations in the media that he had offshore accounts, and foreign properties.

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