A Bulgarian investigator has alerted the police and the Prosecutor’s Office about the attempt to hinder the trial of former Defense Minister Nikolay Tsonev.

This was revealed by Bulgaria’s Interior Ministry Secretary, Kalin Georgiev, and the Deputy Chief Prosecutor, Boyko Naydenov, during a special news conference that they gave after Thursday’s triple arrest of Nikolay Tsonev himself, Sofia Judge Petar Santirov, and former Finance Ministry Secretary Tencho Popov.

Bulgaria's Interior Ministry has released exclusive footage of the arrest of the three suspects inlcuding ex Defense Minister Nikolay Tsonev which you can WATCH HERE

The three men have been busted over an attempt to bribe a Sofia judge in order to obstruct the Tsonev’s trail for abuses he allegedly committed during his term as Defense Minister in 2008-2009.

“An investigator from the National Investigation Service has been asked by the Sofia City Court judge Petar Santirov to foil the trial against former Defense Minister Nikolay Tsonev. The investigator has been offered a bribe but immediately notified the Interior Ministry, the State National Security Agency DANS, and the Prosecutor’s Offices,” announced Deputy Chief Prosecutor Boyko Naydenov.

He also explained that the police, DANS, and the prosecutors had been preparing the special operation they carried out Thursday for three weeks.

Naydenov further revealed that Tsonev used judge Santirov and financial consultant Tencho Popov as intermediaries in order to offer EUR 60 000 to the investigator plus EUR 20 000 more for experts who were supposed to provide untrue testimonies.

The investigator was expect to hinder the trial. Nikolay Tsonev is facing several investigations and charges but the one in question referred to a public procurement contract of the Defense Ministry for the construction of an optic cable called Strandzha 2, worth BGN 120 M. According to Prosecutor Naydenov, the deal was not only detrimental to the state but made no sense at all as the Defense Ministry did not need the optic cable.

The investigation of the deal was started at the end of 2009 and has not been taken to court yet.

For three full weeks, the police followed the suspects in the bribery scheme, and detected several meetings among them managing to grasp important details about what exactly the investigator had been offered and what he was expected to do in exchange.

The police even delayed the special operation for two days because at the last minute the intermediaries started to haggle anew with the unnamed investigator. Eventually, the arrests were made as the investigator was summoned to a law office in order to receive a bribe installment of EUR 20 000.

Tencho Popov, former Secretary of the Finance Ministry and activist of the National Movement for Security and Prosperity of the former Tsar and PM Simeon Saxe-Coburg, was busted as he was handing the bribe money to the investigator.

Ex Finance Minister Nikolay Tsonev was arrested in the Military Hospital as he was being given a document certifying sickness so that he can skip an interrogation scheduled for next Tuesday.

Deputy Chief Prosecutor Boyko Naydenov was positive that the whole scenario was observed closely and “controlled” by the police and the prosecutors.

“We have enough evidence to charge Nikolay Tsonev with an attempt to bribe a civil servant using ex Finance Ministry Secretary Tencho Popov and Judge Petar Santirov as intermediaries,” Prosecutor Naydenov declared.

He also explained that judge Santirov trusted the investigator who exposed the bribery scheme as a good friend, and that Tencho Popov was close with Tsonev because both of them are members of the NMSP party. At the same time, Popov and Santirov are distant relatives.

Naydenov also pointed out that judge Santirov has had a good image among his colleagues. He recently participated in interrogations of mobsters from Bulgaria’s high-profile kidnappers’ gang known as “The Impudent”.

“This is the first case when we have busted an acting magistrate, a former minister, and a former ministry secretary in such a scheme,” stated Deputy Chief Prosecutor Naydenov while thanking the investigator who exposed the affair.

“It is through such acts and with the help of such people that we can win the fight against corruption,” he declared.

On March 4, 2010, Nikolay Tsonev, Minister in the three-way government of Sergey Stanishev from the party of former Tsar and Prime Minister, Simeon Saxe-Coburg, the National Movement for Stability and Prosperity (NMSP), was charged with violating his ministerial duties over a period of four months, specifically between February 12 and June 1, 2009.

He has approved the purchase of a conveyor for the manufacturing of metal products; this deal is estimated to have incurred a loss of BGN 8 M to the state budget.

In December, the Sofia Prosecutor’s Office initiated an investigation against Tsonev over his order issued June 25, 2009, to increase illegally the capital of the state-owned military plant TEREM EAD by over BGN 38 M by transferring to it money from the state budget. However, he has not been charged formally over this alleged crime yet.

Investigations into his actions include deals dating back as early as the 1999-2000 period, when he was the Head of the Supply Management Directorate at the Defense Ministry. The Military Prosecutor’s Office has charged him over contracts for the purchase of airplane parts which were detrimental to the state.

Nikolay Tsonev is the third minister from the former government who has been charged over violations together with ex Labor Minister Emiliya Maslarova and ex Agriculture Minister Valeri Tsvetanov. However, he is the very first ex Minister arrested over attempting to bribe a judge.

The former Chief Secretary of the Finance Ministry, Tencho Popov, is also a former Deputy Chair of the NMSP party. At the end of the 1990s, he served as a Financial Director of the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant. After quiting the Finance Ministry, Popov has worked as a financial consultant. He is still a member of the NMSP party.