"I am ready to return to Bulgaria as a protected witness", Vasil Bozhkov wrote on Facebook today.

"Borissov's impudence gave way to his fear. He has reason to be afraid," he also wrote.

Bozhkov, who lives in Dubai, has been charged with 19 charges, on which more than 200 witnesses have been questioned, 18 European investigation warrants and requests for legal assistance have been sent to 17 countries. A request for his extradition to the UAE was also sent, as well as four more requests for legal aid. The last one - to appear before the Bulgarian investigators - is from this January.

Vasil Bozhkov, known as "Cherepa" (the Skull), was described in internal correspondence of the State Department as "Bulgaria's most infamous gangster." He held various roles as a Bulgarian oligarch, criminal, entrepreneur, politician, and the creator of the Civic Platform "Bulgarian Summer." Until 2020, he was widely recognized as the richest Bulgarian, amassing a fortune estimated to be between 1 and 3 billion BGN. However, in January 2020, Bozhkov fled to Dubai in an attempt to evade arrest. He faced a range of serious charges, including murder, money laundering, tax evasion, and rape. Bozhkov claimed that his escape was motivated by alleged systematic extortion by the authorities. In a revealing interview in March 2022, his former business partners, Tsvetomir and Boyan Naydenovi, disclosed that Bozhkov had confessed to ordering the murder of Manol Velev. Since his escape from Bulgaria, he has had a very public feud with former Prime Minister and current leader of GERB Boyko Borissov.

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