Bulgarian prosecutors freeze, impound more than 800 000 leva intended for vote-buying
Bulgaria’s Prosecutor’s Office said on April 6 that prosecutors had attached or impounded the equivalent of more than 800 000 leva, in leva and euro, that had been intended for vote-buying in the parliamentary elections two days earlier.
The statement did not say on behalf of which candidates, parties or coalitions the vote-buying had been intended.
The attachments and impounding of the sums had taken place between the beginning of the election campaign and April 6, the statement said.
It said that various prosecutor’s offices had applied for the attachment of more than 425 000 leva, while cash in leva and euro to the value of 383 000 leva had been confiscated.
According to the statement, this was the first time that the step of attaching and impounding money intended for vote-buying had been taken.
The Prosecutor’s Office said that 41 pre-trial proceedings had been initiated in connection with violations of citizen’s political rights, since the beginning of the election campaign. This was fewer than the 99 initiated at the time of Bulgaria’s previous parliamentary elections in 2017, the statement said.
Charges have been lodged against 13 people. In all, 728 case files have been opened in connection with breaches of electoral legislation, the statement said.
(Archive photo: Interior Ministry press centre)
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