Bulgaria's National Revenue Agency had begun a tax audit of the insurance company “Lev Ins,” connected to Aleksei Petrov, Darik radio reports.

Aleksei Petrov, who is a former top agent of the National Agency for State Security (DANS), is among the 14 individuals arrested overnight Tuesday during a special police operation codenamed “Octopus.”

Petrov faces charges of being the ringleader of an organized crime group dealing with extortion, racket, prostitution, VAT draining and trading in influence. It was reported earlier that the probe of Petrov and the criminal organization started over a complaint of a Bulgarian businessman that he was the victim of racketeers.

Up to 5 other businessmen are said to have come forward after Petrov's arrest with testimony he had been racketeering them.

According to unconfirmed reports the offices of “Lev Ins” in Sofia are closed Thursday while the revenue agents have taken out several big bags with documentation.

Anton Petrov aka The Hamster, who is presumed to have been “The Impudent” ringleader, was also detained through the special police operation “Octopus,” and is believed to be the link between the two criminal organizations.

The Hamster was arrested in December during “The Impudent” operation and later released on bail over lack of evidence.

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