Bulgaria’s missing former security agency chief Sertov is alive and in Greece – Interior Ministry
The former head of Bulgaria’s State Agency for National Security, Petko Sertov, missing since leaving his home in Sofia on December 5, is alive and in Greece, Bulgaria’s Interior Ministry said on December 23.
On December 20, Sertov registered at an hotel near the railway station in the Larissa area of Greek capital city Athens, using his personal identity card.
On December 21, he left the Hotel Nana, walked around the area, and then returned to the hotel for dinner. Sertov was said by the Interior Ministry to have appeared calm and had spoken to various people, in English and Greek.
Sertov checked out of the hotel before lunchtime on December 22.
Interior Ministry chief secretary Svetozar Lazarov said that investigators had been working in close co-operation with Greek authorities.
“I would like to take the opportunity to address Mr Sertov with an appeal, as a colleague, to identify himself by showing his identification card at any regional police station on the territory of Greece or any other EU country, so that we can terminate the (search) procedure and stop interfering in his personal life,” Lazarov said.
Bulgarian authorities and later Interpol were alerted after Sertov left his home on December 5. The same day, he drew cash from a bank, but left both his mobile phones at home. Investigators subsequently established, using video recordings from private and public places, that Sertov had headed for the border crossing to Greece the same evening.
According to its website, the Hotel Nana offers the vacationer and business traveller comfort and convenience at affordable prices.
