A private bailiff and police officers have entered the building of the Chief Mufti's Office in Sofia because of unreturned debts of nearly BGN 300,000 that the Muslim religion owed to the Bulgarian state and to an individual.

The private bailiff, Marian Petkov, has told the Bulgarian Darik Radio that the legal adviser to the Chief Mufti's Office, Asan Imamov, blamed Nedim Gendzhev for the police action.

In May, Gendzhev was reinstated as Chief Mufti, even though he appears to be resented by many Muslims in Bulgaria because of his alleged involvement in controversial practices.

In Imamov's words, a while ago, Gendzhev hired the lawyer Zhana Kisyova for BGN 50,000, but never paid the sum. The sum that is owed to the Bulgarian state is now known because, according to Imamov, the bailiff did not presented a writ.

At 9am Saturday, the private bailiff, Petkov, and the police entered the Chief Mufti's Office. In Imamov's words, Petkov forced all employees out of the building, did not present a write and started describing the properties of the Chief Mufti's Office without witnesses.

However, Petkov has stated that the police found in the building people who did not have the right to represent the Muslim religion. These were people close to Mustafa Alish Hadzhi, who was elected Chief Mufti at a National Muslim Conference from 2008, which the court announced as invalid.

Nikolay Pankov, head of Gendzhev's cabinet, has told Darik Radio that the unpaid taxes and insurances were based on an old comprehensive audit act for the period 2005-2007, when Mustafa Alish Hadzhi was Chief Mufti at the time.

Pankov added that the Chief Mufti's Office is about to undergo a new total audit from the National Revenue Agency.

He also said that the lawyer Zhana Kisyova was not the only individual that the Chief Mufti's Office owed money to. In his words, a person from the city of Pleven presented them with a writ for BGN 150,000 and they also had to pay BGN 48,000 to another person from the city of Varna.

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