The Prosecutor’s Office is about to “finish” “Hemusgate”

The investigation for BGN 54 million for the Hemus highway, which disappeared in cash “in bags and sacks”, is about to fail after the three prosecutors who worked on it were removed by the deputy head of the Sofia Appellate Prosecutor’s Office, Emilia Rusinova. Това е станало няколко дни преди да бъде внесен обвинителен акт срещу 9 лица, научи BIRD от свои източници в градското обвинение.

The team that was removed included prosecutors Ivaylo Zanev, Tatyana Saday and Sasho Totev, but Zanev mainly worked on the case, and the other two prosecutors were more of an “ear” of the leadership of the prosecutor’s office, so that it knew who would be brought as a defendant and on the basis of what evidence.

Saday and Totev are actually sewn into the case with the task of sabotaging it if it gets dangerously close to key people in the Road Infrastructure Agency and the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works, as can be inferred from the actions of Tatyana Sadai, who refused to interrogate Borislav Kolev, who is named as a key figure in the scheme and came into conflict with the current Minister of the Interior Kalin Stoyanov.

The “finishing” took place after the supervising prosecutor received the materials from the Ministry of Interior under DP 231 of the General Directorate for Combating Organized Crime and was about to file an indictment against 9 people. Thus, the filing of charges in the prosecutor’s file 20202 of 2021 is postponed indefinitely, as the new supervising prosecutor is yet to familiarize himself with the materials on it.

The motives of Emilia Rusinova, with which the previous prosecutors were removed, sound scandalous. They are charged with bias and a negative attitude to… Boyko Borissov, although the former prime minister is not even among the persons who have been questioned as witnesses in the case.

Among the potential defendants, however, there are persons who hold key positions in the subcontractor companies in the in-house procedures of the state-owned Avtomagistrali EAD.

Heroine of the Eight Dwarfs

The administrative deputy head of the SAPO, Emilia Rusinova, did not respond to our persistent calls for comment on the situation. She was named by Lyubena Pavlova, Petrova’s ex-wife, as a frequent visitor to the restaurant “The Eight Dwarfs”, where, according to her, she received money and tasks from her ex-husband Petyo Petrov – the Euro.

“Emilia Rusinova was a very frequent guest in the restaurant, it can be said that she was also part of the scheme,” says Lyubena Pavlova in an interview with the Anti-Corruption Fund. Pavlova named the current acting Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov as a participant in the scheme, supporting her voice testimony with photos. However, she did not say anything about the role of Ivan Geshev, who, according to other witnesses, was also a frequent guest of the Euro in the restaurant.

If “Hemusgate” collapses, this will be another failed scandalous case that has the potential to incriminate former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov in abuse. So far, Sarafov’s wards have successfully terminated “Drawergate” and broken up “Barcelona Gate” into several cases, terminating the part in which the former prime minister was investigated. It also remains to be crushed the “Skullgate” case, in which Vasil Bozhkov testified that he gave over BGN 60 million in bribes to Borisov and Goranov.

Who can be accused of “Hemusgate”?

The Prosecutor’s Office was very selective in its announcements about the “Hemus Gate” investigation, but the media following the case managed to identify the likely defendants. First, the Mediapool website published the initials of eight persons: H.S., V.V., M.P., P.B., D.G., T.Y., G.G. and E.K.

Football referee Borislav Kolev, known as “The Little Man”, also shone with his full name. He was arrested a few months ago but later released to house arrest. Kolev is known to be a partner with a nephew of the mayor of Simitli, close to GERB.

BIRD deciphered the other potential defendants, including the five owners and managers of construction companies. These are Hristo Savev from “Groma Hold” (former “Agromah”), Victor Velev, owner of “Vodno stroitelstvo – Blagoevgrad” AD, Margarita Popivanova – manager of “European Roads” and “Vodno stroitelstvo – Blagoevgrad”, Pavel Bozhilov, owner of the company “Bul Stroy Group IG” and Emil Kiossev – financial and administrative director of “Bul Stroy Group IG”

BIRD also revealed that Hristo Savev’s company has financed with a BGN 23.4 million loan the acquisition of the Maxi Spa Hotel in Velingrad, with a high probability that the money comes from in-house payments of Avtomagistrali AD to “Vodno stroitelstvo – Blagoevgrad”. Of all the potential defendants, it is Savev who can publicly contact Boyko Borisov, as can be seen in the lead photo, in which the two are cutting a ribbon at a construction site.

The others in the scheme are Georgi Georgiev from Lom, a businessman known as “The Glassman”, named by Borislav Kolev as an organizer of low-income persons, representatives and owners of phantom companies who have withdrawn the money at a cash desk, Danail Georgiev – a member of the political council of PP “Euroroma”, who withdrew BGN 13.3 million at a cash desk and Toma Yankov – leader of the youth MRF in Mezdra /and nephew of the chairman of PP “Roma” Toma Tomov/, He withdrew about 12 mln. Lv. Of these three,But there is any case against Georgi Steklarya – and confiscation proceedings of the KPKONPI. For now, however, the Commission is more likely to In addition, it is known from a previous investigation of ours together with “Zov News” that the deceased low-income citizen Krasimir Mitrikov has withdrawn BGN 18.6 million. The drug addict Georgi Shkendov, who, as a proxy of two phantom companies, has withdrawn BGN 11 million at the cash desk, has not been brought as a defendant. which are unlikely to ever be collected.

All cash withdrawals were made from an office of International Asset Bank, whose ownership is associated with Mladen Mihalev – Madzho, for whom Boyko Borisov worked as a second-rate thug in the 90s.

***

Разследващата журналистика е разузнаването на гражданите. BIRD се финансира от дарения. Ние не публикуваме реклами. Не получаваме държавни субсидии. Не разчитаме на грантове. Финансирането чрез малки дарения от читатели е гаранция за нашата независимост. Включете се, за да продължим да разкриваме злоупотреби и да държим отговорни властимащите. Използваме Вашите пари за хонорари на журналистите, командировки, изграждане и поддръжка на нашите информационни системи, такси за фирмени и имотни регистри у нас и по света, придобиване на техника и специално оборудване, осигуряване на нашата безопасност и други важни работни мисии. Важно: Ако дарявате всеки месец това ще ни даде възможност да планираме и организираме нашата работа. Благодарим Ви! Нас ни има, защото Вас Ви има!

This post is also available in: Български (Bulgarian)