46-year-old Stefan Klenovski, who has a European Arrest Warrant issued against him by Italian authorities on suspicions of participating in a crime ring practicing ATM scams, has been extradited.

Pursuant to a decision of the Sofia City Court, Klenovski was handed to the competent Italian authorities at Sofia Airport on Tuesday and was taken on board an airplane to Italy.

46-year-old Klenovski was arrested on January 27 in a shopping mall in downtown Sofia.

The arrest was accompanied by accusations of police brutality, which Valeri Yordanov, Chief of the Sofia Directorate of the Interior, refuted outright.

CCTV footage of the arrest, however, showed the detainee being slapped in the face by a policeman.

Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov admitted that the police had exceeded their powers and vowed disciplinary action.

Klenovski has no criminal record in Bulgaria and his EAW concerns his alleged involvement in a crime group specialized in debit and credit card fraud and money laundering.