{"id":6837,"date":"2021-10-05T00:27:55","date_gmt":"2021-10-04T22:27:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bird.bg\/?p=6837"},"modified":"2024-12-07T15:38:51","modified_gmt":"2024-12-07T14:38:51","slug":"pandora-papers-peevski-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bird.bg\/en\/pandora-papers-peevski-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Pandora: Delyan Peevski has not declared three offshore companies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former MP and media mogul Delyan Peevski is associated with three offshore companies for which there is no trace in the property declarations he submitted. The data on them are from the international investigation of the Pandora Files<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

On November 19, 2013, the subsidiary of the offshore legal services provider Trident Trust in Switzerland commissioned an employee to form the change of ownership of the company Felina Trade & Investment Inc<\/strong>. It is registered in the British Virgin Islands at the request of Liechtenstein-based Jura Trust AG. <\/span><\/p>\n

Change of ownership documents were sent as attachments in an internal Trident Trust email. On November 12, 2013, Felina’s $50,000 capital was transferred by Lassandra Corporation, registered with BVI, to Panamanian Inversiones Y Servicios Piedra Azul S.A. <\/span><\/p>\n

Most of the directors of the companies in question are unknown citizens of BVI and Panama. However, one of the documents confirming the change of ownership lists Delyan Peevski as director of Felina.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Delyan Peevski is Director of Felina Trade & Investment Inc.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At that time, Peevski was a member of the MRF in the 42nd National Assembly and had a short experience as a director of the State Agency for National Security (DANS) in his career. His scandalous appointment by parliament with the votes of the MRF and BSP triggered many months of protests against the Oresharski government. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is not clear how long the MP has been the director of the company, but when he submitted his annual declaration<\/a> for 2013 in 2014, there was no trace of Felina in it.<\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, Peevski cannot declare his directorship in Felina, as such a column does not appear in the declarations filled in by MPs. The Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly explicitly prohibit MPs from participating in management or supervisory bodies of commercial companies and cooperatives. Upon taking office, each Member of the National Assembly shall complete a special declaration that he does not hold incompatible positions. Peevski has declared that he is not a manager of companies.<\/p>\n

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Peevski’s declarations from 2013 and 2014<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Deputies can have property in commercial companies, but must declare them. The Pandora files prove that Peevski has also violated this legal requirement.<\/p>\n

For years, Delyan Peevski declared only two apartments and a house with a yard in Sofia, as well as an Opel car for BGN 1,000. The lightening of the MP’s possessions began with his declaration<\/a> from 2016 (for the previous 2015), when he declared himself the owner of several Bulgarian and foreign companies. Upon entering the 44th National Assembly in 2017, Peevski announced ownership<\/a> in three foreign companies and one Bulgarian company. <\/span><\/p>\n

In 2019, the DPS MP declared<\/a> that in 2018 he had ownership in only one company – Proof Method Marketing.<\/span> But this does not correspond to the real state of his dominions.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Pandora files show that Peevski has not declared $ 100,000 stakes in the firm Verum International Limited<\/strong>. It was registered in Seychelles in 2016 and its owner is Dubai’s IGWT Limited<\/strong>, also owned by Peevski. On July 1, 2018, Peevski signed a document declaring himself the real owner<\/strong> of Verum’s shares, respectively IGWT, and at the same time transferring them to IGWT. Adv. Alexander Angelov<\/strong>. There is also a copy of his passport. <\/span><\/p>\n

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A declaration by which Peevski declares himself the real owner of Verum and transfers his shares to Atty. Alexander Angelov.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A copy of Delyan Peevski’s passport attached to Verum’s transfer documents.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On September 21, 2018, Angelov sent instructions to the registration company Alfa Consulting to liquidate Verum International Limited. The company was permanently deleted a few months later in May 2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

In none of Peevski’s declarations from 2016 to 2019 is there any trace of Verum International and its $100,000 capital, nor of IGWT Limited. The concealment of data in a declaration before KPKONPI is at least an occasion to initiate proceedings for a full inspection by the Anti-Corruption Commission of Sotir Tsatsarov. <\/span><\/p>\n

Whether the hiding of offshore companies also constitutes a document crime under art. 313 is a controversial issue. In the past, MRF politician Hristo Bisserov and the former head of the NRA, Maria Murgina, have acquired charges under this article for undeclared property. Both were acquitted by the court. <\/span><\/p>\n

So far, Peevski has been repeatedly inspected on various signals from the prosecutor’s office, but without any consequences. In April 2021, the US administration blacklisted Peevski for participating in corruption schemes. The former lawmaker is challenging the sanctions, and the MRF party continues to defend him publicly before Bulgarian and European institutions, claiming that there is no evidence that he is involved in corruption.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our attempts to contact Peevski for comment, with Atty. Angelov or his American lawyers failed. <\/span><\/p>\n