Send to Kindle
Veselin Pengezov was summoned to the headquarters of Bulgaria's State Agency for National Security (DANS) on Monday. Photo by BGNES
The Military District Prosecutor's Office has brought four charges against Veselin Pengezov, the chair of the Sofia Appellate Court.
All of them are of embezzlement, with three involving him as an accomplice and the fourth as having committed a military administrative abuse, according to StandartNews.
No detention of Pengezov has been ordered.
He told journalists he would defend himself alone, "like [one-time Bulgarian communist leader] Georgi Dimitrov during the Leipzig trial".
Pengezov explained he had prosecution immunity as a magistrate and that besides did not understand why he should be tried by the military only for being a former general. He also believes the trial against him is politically motivated.
Petar Petkov, the chair of the Military Appellate Court, was also indicted.
The two men claimed ten more people would be facing charges over the EU funds investigation which emerged last week claiming the Court of Appeals' chair took part in EU funds fraud schemes involving the introduction of an information system in military courts under the operational program Administrative Capacity.
The prosecution claims the scheme was in place before 2009, while Pengezov headed the Military Court of Appeals.
Its probe is likely to put a spoke in his ambitions to run for a second term as chair of Sofia Appellate Court in June.
An organized criminal group comprising Bulgarian citizens has been implicated in what authorities describe as the largest welfare fraud scheme in the legal history of Great Britain
The US sanctions under the Magnitsky Act imposed on six Bulgarians, including Delyan Peevski and Vasil Bozhkov, will have an impact on European policy approach to Bulgaria.
The European Commission (EC) said on Tuesday that it has approved the allocation of €173.
With modification of three operational programmes under REACT-EU, the Commission has approved to provide extra €75.
The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) has alleged President’s Anti-Corruption Secretary Plamen Uzunov of corruption.
In Nessebar, a peculiar case involving drunk driving unfolded during the early hours of the morning
Over 2.7 million euros in cash and precious metals were seized during the BELENOS II customs operation aimed at enforcing the Cash Control Regulation and combating illegal financial activities
The Stara Zagora Prosecutor's Office has arrested and charged a man with sexual assault, physical abuse
A 57-year-old Bulgarian man, identified as Nikolay D., has been arrested in Germany and charged with attempted murder following a violent incident in mid-November
A 27-year-old man has been charged with arson in connection with a fire on a Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ) train carriage at Sofia Central Station that claimed the lives of four individuals and left two others seriously injured
Customs officers from the Ruse Customs Department discovered over 230,000 euros wrapped in an unusual manner during an inspection of a passenger vehicle at the Danube Bridge 2 border checkpoint
Bulgaria's Perperikon: A European Counterpart to Peru's Machu Picchu
Bulgarians Among EU's Least Frequent Vacationers, Struggling with Affordability
