Owner of Bulgarian men’s luxury fashion house found shot dead
The owner of Bulgaria’s upmarket men’s fashion house Agressia (Агресия), Alexander Antov, was found shot dead on January 9 near his home in Sofia’s Bistritsa district.
Police said that it was not yet known whether the death of Antov (63) was the result of foul play. However, unconfirmed local media reports said that Antov had two gunshot wounds to the head.
The Interior Ministry said that at about 7pm on January 8, Antov had gone out to walk his dog. His family reported him missing around 9pm after the dog returned home on its own. His body was found in the woods near the family home some hours later.
Agressia Group has been in business for more than 20 years, producing – among other items – one of the leading lines of men’s suits in Bulgaria and working with foreign partners in the fabrics industry. It has three showrooms in Sofia and one in Plovdiv.
Agressia was reported to have signed a large contract with Italian fashion house Armani towards the end of 2015. Reports described Antov as a modest man who declined to give interviews, demurred from standing for leadership positions in business associations and who paid his staff well. The same reports underlined that Antov’s business practices were legitimate and there was no suggestion of any connection to questionable activities.
Reports said that there was no evidence that there had been threats against Antov or his family.
If Antov’s death is confirmed as a case of murder, it would be the second in Sofia in recent days in which a wealthy business person was killed, following the shooting death of Vesselin Stoimenov, an owner of several companies noted for his links to the controversial VIS-2 group.