Bulgarian prosecutors open investigation against former MRF MP Hristo Biserov
Bulgaria’s prosecutor’s office said on November 7 that it opened an investigation against former Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) MP Hristo Biserov, who is suspected of committing tax crimes and money laundering.
The investigation, which will be carried out by the Sofia City Prosecution, also targets Ivaylo Glavinkov, whom local media identified as Biserov’s stepson. Separately, Biserov is also investigated on suspicion of committing document fraud, namely submitting false information to the National Audit Office in his annual assets declaration (which is mandatory for all senior elected officials, including MPs).
The investigation comes a day after the prosecutor-general received a report from the State Agency for National Security (SANS) detailing suspicious movement of funds from accounts in one European country to another European country, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
Biserov and Glavinkov also made term deposits, withdrew cash and transferred funds to companies registered in the Seychelles, according to the SANS report, as quoted by the prosecutor’s office statement.
The investigation will carry out full tax audits of Biserov and Glavinkov, as well as a number of companies. The prosecution has already ordered lifting the confidentiality of tax and banking records and will seek the assistance of authorities in at least two European countries as part of the investigation, the statement said.
No further details of the investigation will be disclosed at this point because the SANS report contains confidential information, the prosecutor’s office said.
The news comes only days after Biserov submitted, on November 3, his resignation from all leadership positions in MRF and from Parliament. He was, at that point, deputy leader of MRF and Deputy Speaker of Bulgaria’s 42nd National Assembly.
According to the MRF, the reasons for Biserov (57) to resign were personal, not political. The resignation was accepted on the same day and on November 7, Parliament voted to end Biserov’s term as an MP.
Commenting on the investigation against Biserov, MRF leader Lyutvi Mestan said that he and the party’s honorary chairman Ahmed Dogan were surprised by Biserov’s resignation and denied the speculation in local media that the party’s leaders asked Biserov to resign.
(Photo of Hristo Biserov on an MRF campaign poster: dps.bg)
