Bulgarian MEP: After US Sanctions EU May Well Suspend Funds for Bulgaria
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 Sofia City Court on Monday is expected to launch the trial against former Sofia Appellate Court chair Veselin Pengezov and other ex-officials over their alleged involvement in a EU funds fraud.
Last spring, while still in office, Pengezov was initially charged with four counts of embezzlement, over irregularities in EU-funded projects which prosecutors allege are tantamount to a fraudulent scheme.
A month later charges were also brought against Maria Divizieva, at that time Chief of Staff of Bulgarian PM (2013-2014) Plamen Oresharski, who allegedly facilitated the presentation of false statements in a report under the same operatinal program.
In April of this year, the Sofia District Military Appellate Prosecutor’s Office pressed charges against Pengezov (head of the Sofia Military Appellate Court at the time of the scheme) and Divizieva, who was then head of the Finance Ministry Directorate in charge of the operational program Administrative Capacity.
Others charged included the former Chair of the Sofia Military Appellate Court Petko Petkov (at the time deputy to Pengezov), the former Deputy Chair of the Military Appellate Court Vladimir Dimitrov, and several other officials including Atina Mavridis, Petya Gergova, Lyudmil Simeonov, and Krum Simeonov.
Prosecutors' actions in that case were related to the selection of contractors for public procurement launched under Operational Program Administrative Capacity - the one under which the scam is thought to have operated.
A 37-year-old man from Stara Zagora has been detained after physically assaulting his two daughters
In the ongoing trial at the Central Criminal Court in London, the prosecutor, Alison Morgan, emphasized that the Bulgarians accused of spying for Russia
A man was arrested after stabbing another driver following a traffic accident in Sofia
A Bulgarian man, 39-year-old Mariyan Grudev, has been sentenced to life in prison in England for rape and attempted rape
The Sofia City Court has ordered a 22-year-old woman, who stabbed three passers-by in the capital, to be placed in the psychiatric clinic at Lovech prison for a 30-day examination
Pre-trial proceedings have been launched for attempted murder following a knife attack in Sofia that left three men injured
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