“It was a good offer”: The boss of the Supreme Administrative Court bought a villa with a mineral pool for BGN 10,000 only

The Chairman of the Supreme Administrative Court Georgi Cholakov, one of the “big three” in the judiciary, has acquired a luxury property at a “simulative“ price. In 2016, he bought guest house with swimming pool with hot mineral water in the village of Pchelin for only 10 000 BGN. The property does not have a permit for water use, which means that the mineral water has filled the pool illegally. In addition, the property is actually larger by 38 sq.m. according to the Cadastre, but Cholakov has declared a smaller area.

Cheaper than New Year’s Eve in Velingrad

On 18.02.2016 Georgi Zlatev Cholakov buys a guest house in the village of Pchelin at a price of 10 000 BGN. , following the example

of Sotir Tsatsarov years earlier. The property is in the area of a resort with mineral baths and a spring with hot mineral water in the municipality. Kostenets. The seller is the company.”Eco Club

Ltd.

Before the deal for the same house there was a project for
a guest house
worth BGN 264,642., there was also a contract with a confirmed subsidy with European funding, which was subsequently cancelled. This amount is close to the real value of the property, which in no case can cost only BGN 10,000.

The title deed for the deal is, to put it mildly, strange. A check in the Property Register shows that Georgi Cholakov buys a plot of land with an area of 790 square meters, a residential building with an area of 0.000 square meters. and an outbuilding with an area of 0.000 sq. m. !

However, the buildings existed for years before 2016 and are obviously not zero square meters. They have been documented along with the basin in Google Earth satellite images from previous years. In addition, they are present on the official photo map for 2011 available on the Cadastre website.

In the building declared as the “business building” there is a kitchen, a dining room and accommodation rooms, as evidenced by
an advertisement
in a tourist site. The ad also says: in the yard there is a swimming pool with hot mineral water – temperature 38 C, wine cellar, cozy fireplace, underfloor heating and outdoor fireplace suitable for grilling.

In Georgi Cholakov’s declarations, submitted in 2017 and 2018, there is a total built-up area of 180 square meters for the buildings.

In all subsequent declarations, however, the area of the landed property is declared 790 square meters, and actually according to the cadastre it is 828 square meters.

The cadastre reveals the larger area of the landed property

Georgi Cholakov has not declared increased by 38 sq. m. area of the landed property, as required by the Judiciary Act (JSA) and the Anti-Corruption Act (ZPKONPI). This was revealed after the Geodesy Cartography and Cadastre Office published cadastral maps of real estate in the village of Pchelin, Kostenets municipality. They have been made

in 2021, and recently already available on the website

of the Agency for Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre.

The information in the Cadaster shows that the plot of land in the village of Pchelin, owned by Cholakov, is 828 square meters. Of course, what built-up area are the buildings in the property. However, the discrepancy remains for the building recorded in Cadastre as an “outbuilding”, in which there are actually premises of a “guest house”.

“Lord of the Court” and a tax schmeker?

Georgi Cholakov personally intervened in the distribution and resolution of court cases of the scandalous “golden laboratory

” of Kapitan Andreevo “Eurolab 2011

“, related to the no less infamous Ami, Curo and Taki. As writes

the Capital newspaper, Cholakov is the real conductor of the events in the judiciary – the new ruler of the court.

Our team contacted Judge Cholakov by phone for comment, who rejected the thesis that the price paid by him for the property was simulative.

“It was a good offer,” he said.

Later, we received the following written response to our inquiry: “The transaction was confessed at a price agreed between the parties. This price is above the tax assessment issued by the tax office in the Municipality of Kostenets.”

Asked whether the property transfer tax was paid on BGN 10,000, Cholakov confirmed that it was. Here there is a significant discrepancy with the famous simulated deal of Sotir Tsatsarov, who claimed that he had paid a tax on the real price, not on the simulated one, for two orchards.

Thus, for the deal in Pchelin there is a hypothesis of a crime under art. 255 para. 1 and 3 of the Penal Code, but Judge Cholakov rejected it with the words “Everything is a matter of interpretation”

In our interpretation there is an avoidance of establishing and paying tax liabilities under the Local Taxes and Fees Act in large amounts.

It is an undoubted fact that there was a statement in the title deed before a notary, declaring false circumstances that the deal was for BGN 10,000. And the parties to the transaction have entered it in the declarations under art. 25 of the Notaries and Notarial Activities Act.

Cholakov commented that he did not even know about the increase in the area of his own property and had declared what was entered in the title deed – 790 sq.m.

‘The property was declared when purchased under the area reflected in the title deed. At that time there was no cadastral map in the village of Pchelin. At the beginning of the procedure for the preparation of a cadastral map, I have submitted documents of ownership.

For what reason the property is reflected in the cadastral map with another area, if this is the case, I cannot answer, as no measurement of the terrain has been made on the spot.”

It is a fact, however, that in Cholakov’s subsequent declarations after the increase in the area of the property, it continues to be declared with its old area.

And illegal use of mineral water?

There is also an outdoor outdoor pool in Cholakov’s property, according to our information, it is still supplied with hot mineral water, but Cholakov denies that this is the case. However, he admitted that mineral water for the pool was used in the past before the water was given on concession.

“Since I bought the property, more than 6 years ago, there has been no mineral water in the pool,” reads the written answer to our question.

It is strange, however, that on the Internet there are ads for the same guest house with a mineral pool dated from 2017, that is, after Cholakov acquired the property.

There is no and has never been issued a permit for this property by the Basin Directorate for water abstraction from mineral waters, it became clear from the response of the Basin Directorate to our request under the Access to Public Information Act (APIA).

This means that water use has been illegal for a long time, and it is not excluded that this happened at the time when the pool was already owned by Cholakov.

The case of this basin is no exception. Residents of the village say that in addition to the buildings of the town hall, many private properties have illegally built central heating, supplied with hot mineral water. The Basin Directorate has even issued 4 acts for illegal water use, one of which has entered into force, it became clear from the answer to our inquiry.

Leading photo: Property with buildings and swimming pool in the village of Pchelin | BIRD.bg
Georgi Cholakov – Chairman of the Supreme Administrative Court | BGNES

***

За да научавате преди всички за нови разследвания, инсталирайте си нашето мобилно приложение:

Щом сте стигнали дотук, вероятно вече си задавате въпроса как се финансира този журналистически проект.

От създаването си BIRD се финансираше от подаяния в нашето журналистическо чекмедже. Но на чекмеджето му мина времето. Даже прокуратурата затвори онова Чекмедже, знаете кое… Нашето финансиране влиза в крак с епохата. Фондонабиращата ни кампания вече се казва

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