Insurance Co 'Lev Ins' Refutes Sofia Prosecutor Statements

The “Lev Ins” CEO, Stefan Sofiyanski, says he does not see any legal reason for the closure of company offices and the seizing of documents. Photo by BGNES

The Bulgarian Insurance Company “Lev Ins” denies media reports that documents found during the search of their offices are examined for possible connection with alleged leaks of classified information by ex Prime Minister, Sergey Stanishev.

The information about the documents was reported as being offered by the Sofia City Prosecutor, Nikolay Kokinov, during a briefing Tuesday morning.

Kokinov is quoted saying the conclusion of the probe against the former Prime Minister and leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) is expected in just days and the examination of the documents found in offices of the insurance company “Lev Ins” is taking place in order to establish possible ties between these documents and the alleged leak of a classified report of the National Agency for State Security (DANS) by Stanishev.

It has been also reported, on numerous occasions before, that the documents have been seized from the offices of the insurance company, located inside the sports complex and swimming pool “Spartak,” located on 4 “Arsenalski” boulevard in downtown Sofia.

In connection with the above reports, the “Lev Ins” management issued a declaration for the media pointing out the company never had offices on “Arsenalski” and their headquarters are located on “Tsar Boris III” street in Sofia.

The company further stresses that the documents, which were seized illegally 3 months ago, without any search warrants, include strictly information about the accounting and commercial activities of “Lev Ins.”

The management informs that they have asked a top Israeli lawyer and corporate and trade law expert from the Shibolet & Co law offices for consultations about “Lev Ins” further actions to protect and defend the rights and the reputation of one of the leading insurance companies in the country.

The insurance company “Lev Ins,” has been for a long time connected to former DANS secret agent Aleksei Petrov, who along with 13 other people, was arrested in February in a special police operation codenamed “Octopus” over charges of organized crime – illegal drug trafficking, prostitution, racket, and money laundering, among others. Of the 14, only the alleged ringleader Petrov, and Mario Dzholotov, believed to be his right hand, remain behind bars. It was reported at the time that the “Lev Ins” offices, located inside the “Spartak” sports complex, owned by Petrov, were raided as part of the operation.

At the end of February, the management of t “Lev Ins” declared the closing of some of their offices and the seizing of company documents by the police illegal.

At the time, during a special pres conference, one of the Israeli shareholders in the company, Shaul Schneider, stated that Aleksei Petrov has never been a shareholder or an employee of “Lev Ins” and reminded that about 40% of the shares belong to Israeli investors.

EX PM Stanishev is probed over allegations of leaks of classified information including an over a year-old top secret report by DANS, which sheds light on the influence of criminal organizations within certain ministries and state agencies.

At the end of October, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov announced he had received the report from Aleksei Petrov. The PM said his predecessor Stanishev obtained the document in 2008, but did not return it to the relevant department at the Council of Ministers and the report disappeared after that. Under security protocols, all copies of confidential reports are also to be returned to DANS.

The report further leaked to the media and ended up being published online.

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