Bulgarian prosecutors investigating alleged corruption at conflict of interest commission
Bulgaria’s Prosecutor’s Office said on July 11 that it was investigating allegations of corruption at the Cabinet’s commission tasked with preventing conflict of interest.
The investigation was against unknown perpetrators – under Bulgarian law, these are cases in which there is sufficient grounds to suspect foul play, but not enough evidence to indict.
The prosecution statement said that the commission’s premises were searched on July 9, with the search warrant issued by the Sofia City Court. “Currently, the investigation does not allow the dissemination of more details about the pre-trial proceedings,” the statement said.
More details could be made public after evidence seized in the raid has been examined, possibly next week, the prosecutor’s office said.
Reports in Bulgarian media, quoting Prosecutor-General Sotir Tsatsarov, said that two properties owned by the commission’s chairperson, Filip Zlatanov, have also been searched. Asked whether Zlatanov was being investigated, Tsatsarov declined to give additional details, but said that the investigation targeted “a senior official”.
Zlatanov told Bulgarian news agency BTA that he and the other commission employees were cooperating with the investigation and that he was not worried by the investigation because the commission’s activities were transparent.
(Prosecutor-General Sotir Tsatsarov. Screengrab from Bulgarian National Television)
