ECHR orders Bulgaria to pay damages over ineffective investigation into fraudulent takeover of firm
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ordered the Bulgarian state to pay damages to a Bulgarian national who lives in France and whose company was subject to a fraudulent takeover, with the court previously having found that the criminal investigation into the fraud was ineffective.
The applicant, Nikolay Kostadinov, is a Bulgarian national who lives in Versailles, the court said in a media statement.
The judgment concerned the just satisfaction to be awarded following the court’s ruling of November 8 2022 with regard to the fraudulent takeover of the applicant’s company, Vandom OOD, based in Sofia.
In that judgment, the court found that the criminal investigation into the fraud had been ineffective and held that there had been a violation of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 (protection of property) to the European Convention on Human Rights.
As the question of the application of Article 41 (just satisfaction) of the European Convention was not ready for decision, the court reserved it.
On April 2, the ECHR decided that Bulgaria was to pay the applicant 80 000 euro in respect of pecuniary damage, 4000 euro in respect of non-pecuniary damage and 600 euro for costs and expenses.
