10 traffic cops in Bulgaria’s Rousse fired for taking bribes
Ten traffic police in the Bulgarian city of Rousse have been dismissed for taking bribes, the senior Interior Ministry official in the city, Svetoslav Purvanov, said.
Among the motorists from whom the traffic police demanded bribes were Romanian citizens. The amounts ranged from 30 to 200 leva (about 15 to 100 euro), according to a report by Bulgarian television station bTV.
Action against the traffic police followed witness statements and covert surveillance. Those dismissed intend to appeal in court, the report said.
In a separate case, an employee of the motor vehicle administration in the town of Kyustendil was arrested after demanding bribes from the owner of a Sofia-based driving school.
The suspect was arrested in the act of receiving a bribe. Allegedly, she bombarded the owner of the driving school with various penalties for violations and told him that if he wanted the problem to go away, he should pay 50 leva a month per learner driver.
The owner told her that he would pay up, but at the same time, alerted the National Directorate for Combating Organised Crime.
In a parking area 40km from Kyustendil, the handover of 500 leva took place, but the money was marked and the woman was arrested.
The woman, reportedly formerly a customs officer, faces up to six years in jail and a fine of 5000 leva if found guilty, bTV said.
(Photo: Clive Leviev-Sawyer)
