Bribery scandal hit the City Investigation Office in Bulgaria's capital Sofia after police caught an examining magistrate with marked banknotes. The country's chief prosecutor now wants a lawsuit brought against suspect Stefan Stefanov.

The chief prosecutor already demanded him stripped of official privileges as, according to Bulgarian legislation, examining magistrates enjoy prosecution immunity. "Enough information" about a bribe that Stefanov was allegedly given by a defendant is the ground of the demand, the prosecution said.

Last week, Bulgaria's National Service for Control of Organized Crime announced they caught Stefanov while he was being paid USD 1,500 worth of marked banknotes by a defendant whose case is being processed in the investigation office. According to police, he pressured the defendant into offering the bribe.

The inquiry against the briber has been dragging for four years, a law-enforcement official in Sofia said. The defendant is a tourism entrepreneur investigated over alleged frauds.