Bulgaria’s Supreme Court of Cassation (VKS) has revoked the acquittal on the embezzlement case against the former head of the Registry Agency, Violeta Nikolova.

VKS is returning the case for retrial to the Sofia Appellate Court, according to reports of Sega daily.

In October 2013, the court of first instance sentenced Nikolova to 5 years of imprisonment for the embezzlement of BGN 53 000 from the budget of the Registry Agency.

The court declared Nikolova guilty of awarding herself a bonus without the permission of the Justice Minister.

Apart from Nikolova, the other defendants in the case are the former financial controller of the Registry Agency, Totka Stoilova, and the head of the “Administrative Service and PR” department of the Agency, Raina Ivanova.

Stoilova was declared guilty and was issued a 2-year suspended sentence and a fine of BGN 3000, while Ivanova was acquitted.

The two women were charged as assistants of Nikolova.

As regards the charges concerning the creation of a document with fraudulent content, Nikolova and Ivanova were acquitted.

In June 2014, the court of second instance, the Sofia Appellate Court, fully acquitted Nikolova and Stoilova.

The case eventually reached the Supreme Court of Cassation (VKS).

VKS did not agree with the motives outlined by the Sofia Appellate Court and returned the case for retrial.