The deceived American Bretschneider is the director of Asen Vassilev’s offshore company

The American citizen Sebastian Bretschneider (Sebastian Bretschneider), who seized the accounts of the former company of Assen Vassilev “STV Consulting” with a claim for over BGN 5 million., turned out to be Director of Offshore “Axelbert” (Akselbert Ltd), associated with the Minister of Finance. It has this quality since 31.05.2022, according to a reference from the Register of the British Virgin Islands, which BIRD officially received from the Finance Commission of the island country.

This further entangles the “Vignettegate” scandal, which started from Bretschneider’s claims to the bankrupt “STV Consulting” and BIRD’s revelations about dubious property deals of “STV Consulting“, Daniel Lorer and the “Queen of Vignettes” Svetoslava Arnaudova.

So far, three storylines have been formed around “Vinetkagate” with indications of violations:

• Fraud of an American citizen through real estate transactions of STV Consulting;
• The same real estate transactions are at unrealistic prices and with a person whose business with vignette sales depends on the state;
• Assen Vassilev’s offshore company.

The name of Sebastian Bretschneider has already appeared in the first two stories, which were investigated by BIRD, and then by other media – Capital, Deutsche Welle, Sega. They have built on the information and raised new questions, to which the scant public reactions of Assen Vassilev and Daniel Lorer have not yet given answers. The new information already connects Bretschneider with Assen Vassilev’s offshore company, thus becoming a key person in unraveling the puzzle. The American’s intentions to seek justice in Bulgaria seem more and more serious after he posted a bail of BGN 35,000. and another 6,000 BGN. for the salary of the temporary trustee of STV Consulting.

The offshore company “Axelbert” and the violations under the Law on Money Laundering

As we revealed earlier in our publication, Assen Vassilev continues to be conducted Beneficial owner and a representative on “Axelbert“, and it is the owner of the Bulgarian companies “STV Holdings” and “STV Bulgaria“. The information is visible to everyone in the Bulgarian Commercial Register here and here, in the “Beneficial Ownership” section.

Minister Asen Vassilev officially replied last September that “at the moment” is not related to “Axelbert”. But he did not answer the question of when exactly he ended his participation.

Information on the entry of Sebastian Bretschneider as director of the Offshore “Axelbert” (Akselbert Ltd) is another proof that the two Bulgarian companies “STV Holdings” EOOD and “STV Bulgaria” EOOD are in violation of the Measures Against Money Laundering Act (AMLA).

According to the law, the declaration for change of beneficial owner or manager of an offshore company must be submitted to the Registry Agency within 7 days after the change. And However, so far there is no such. Освен това, двете фирми have not submitted financial statements in the last three years and are also in violation here. The company “Axelbert

” is registered in an offshore destination, but not for the purpose of concealing ownership, but rather for tax optimization. The information about it is available in publicly available sources and registers in Bulgaria and abroad, and can be summarized in the following chronology: 12.05.2015: Akselbert Ltd was incorporated and registered in the British Virgin Islands by Sibila Chavdarova Spasova.

14.10.2016: Asen Vaskov Vassilev acquires 100% (50,000 shares) of the offshore company “Axelbert“” (Akselbert Ltd) and became its director. Source: Commercial Register.

07.04.2020: Asen Vassilev is entered with declaration B7 No. 20200327141739 in the Commercial Register as the beneficial owner of STV Holdings EOOD, the sole property of the offshore company Akselbert Ltd – owned, managed and represented by him.

10.06.2020: Asen Vassilev is entered with declaration B7 No. 20200406173517 in the Commercial Register as the beneficial owner of STV Bulgaria EOOD, sole property of STV Holdings EOOD – owned by the offshore company Axelbert.

13.05.2021: Asen Vassilev, in his capacity as owner and representative The offshore company “Axelbert” submitted to the Commercial Register two applications A4 No. 20210508144033 and A4 No. 20210508145250 for change of the manager of “STV Holdings“, “STV Bulgaria” respectively“. As a manager of the two companies was appointed Mario Ivanov Sotirov, to whom days earlier (07.05.2021) Vassilev had transferred for BGN 99. the ownership of “STV Consulting” – the company owned and sold the building on “Svetlana” Street. 3 Chataldzha Street in Sofia. 17.05.2021: Assen Vassilev submits a declaration of compatibility to the Presidency, in which he claims that he is not a representative of the offshore company.

14.06.2021: Assen Vassilev enters the offshore company in his inaugural declaration as caretaker Minister of Finance in the government of Stefan Yanev. Vassilev declared that 12 /twelve/ months before taking office he was the owner and manager of the the offshore company Akselbert Ltd, the foreign company CTW CONSULTING LTD., as well as the Bulgarian companies STV Consulting, STV Holdings, STV Bulgaria and two other Bulgarian companies.

31.12.2021: Assen Vassilev enters the offshore company in his inaugural declaration as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance in the regular government of Kiril Petkov. Vassilev declared that 12 /twelve/ months before taking office he was the owner and manager of the offshore company Akselbert Ltd, as well as the other companies declared earlier on 14.06.2021. 31.05.2022: Sebastian Bretschneider is registered as a director of the offshore company Akselbert Ltd in the Register of the British Virgin Islands.

09.11.2022: The offshore company “Axelbert” is not present in the declaration of Assen Vassilev submitted to the Commission for Combating Corruption and Corruption in his capacity as an elected deputy in the 48th National Assembly.

04.05.2023: The offshore company “Axelbert” is not present in the declaration of Assen Vassilev submitted to the Commission for Combating Corruption and Corruption in his capacity as an elected deputy in the 49th National Assembly.

23.06.2023: The offshore company “Axelbert” is not present in the declaration of Assen Vassilev submitted to the Parliament in his capacity as elected Minister of Finance in the cabinet of Nikolay Denkov.

04.07.2023: The offshore company “Axelbert” is not present in the declaration of Assen Vassilev submitted to the Commission for Combating Corruption and Corruption in his capacity as Minister of Finance.

03.08.2023: Assen Vassilev is present in the list of persons published by the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption and Corruption (CAFIAP) for whom an inspection of what was declared in 2022 has ended with a discrepancy!

19.01.2024: (date of reference) Sebastian Bretschneider continues to be the director of the offshore company “Axelbert” in the Register of the British Virgin Islands.

21.01.2024: Assen Dahlia continues to be conducted Beneficial owner and a representative of the Offshore “Axelbert” (Akselbert Ltd), and it is the owner of the Bulgarian companies “STV Holdings” EOOD and “STV Bulgaria” Ltd. The information is visible to everyone in the Bulgarian Commercial Register here and here, in the section on “Beneficial Owners”. The obligation to declare the change of owner or manager of the foreign company lies with the manager of the Bulgarian companies, Mario Sotirov. The sanction for failure to declare on time can reach BGN 30,000. for each of the companies.

It is difficult to explain why this has not been done so far, especially after our publication from 6 months ago, from which both Asen Vassilev and Mario Sotirov should have learned that the situation of the two companies is not legal. https://bird.bg/asen-vasilev-offshore/

The account of STV Consulting, which is also managed by Mario Sotirov, shows that he has an electronic signature and submits documents to the Commercial Register with it. Obtaining the relevant official documents from the Finance Commission of the British Virgin Islands is easy and fast even online and should not be an obstacle to the registration of the new circumstances.

Who is the “third party” who deceived Bretschneider?

The new information gives new importance to the precautionary order received by Bretschneider from the court for more than BGN 5 million. (5 013 317.86) and its constitution on 12.01.2024 as a creditor in the bankruptcy case of STV Consulting. Sebastian Bretschneider claims before the court that he was deceived by a “third party

“, which is not named, as well as by “STV Consulting”. The American granted a loan to the third party, and the company “STV Consulting” was the guarantor of the loan with the properties it owned. The third party, however, refused to repay the loan, and STV Consulting sold the properties and is now in bankruptcy proceedings.

It is not clear who the “third person” is“, whether it is natural or legal and when exactly this loan was granted. Bretschneider’s claims are for BGN 5 million, which is the amount for which the property was sold to “STV Consulting” on ul. 3 Chataldzha Street in Sofia. The company did not own any other properties, according to a reference of BIRD in the Property Register.

BIRD contacted Mario Sotirov on his US number on Viber and in Apple’s Messages app. We asked if he was the person who received a loan from Sebastian Bretschneider. The messages were read, but there was no response. The fact that Bretschneider is connected with Asen Vassilev through the offshore company “Axelbert”

adds more questions and further entangles the complex case. In addition, he uses a lawyer who has represented Vassilev himself in the past, as revealed by Capital. It is also strange that despite the significant material claim, STV Consulting currently does not use the services of a lawyer at all.

It is indisputable that Bretschneider submitted to the court a petition with sufficiently convincing evidence – probably a loan agreement and its collateral. On their basis, the judge admitted him as a party to the bankruptcy proceedings and appointed a trustee for whom Bretschneider will pay.

At the moment, however, there is no way to find out who the “third person” is‘ because the documents in this type of case are not public and are only accessible to the parties and their lawyers. However, the situation can be clarified at a later stage. Bretschneider has already paid a deposit of BGN 35,000 and BGN 6,000 in advance payment for the remuneration of the temporary insolvency practitioner. This shows the seriousness of his intentions to seek justice.

The first public hearing in the case will be on February 6, 2024.

Lead photo: Sebastian Bretschneider (left), Assen Vassilev (right), against the background of photos of the building on Vasil Levski Street. 3 Chatalzhda Street | Collage: BIRD.BG

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