Bulgaria Coastal Town Ex Mayor Charged over Real Estate Scandal

During his term in office from 2004 to 2007, Dimitar Dimitrov signed all contracts for transferring building rights in breach of the law, which prohibits mayors to do so and gives the authority to municipal councils. Photo by Sofia Photo Agency

Bulgaria’s prosecutors have officially raised charges against the former mayor of the Black Sea town of Primorsko in the wake of a real estate scandal, involving senior judges, which has recently shattered the country.

The scandal broke after an investigative report of the Bulgarian weekly “Kapital” revealed that three senior judges from the Supreme Administrative Court (VAS) helped close relatives to obtain beach-front real estate property in Primorsko thanks to their acquired status of people on social benefits.

During his term in office from 2004 to 2007, Dimitar Dimitrov signed all contracts for transferring building rights in breach of the law, which prohibits mayors to do so and gives the authority to municipal councils.

In the aftermath of the scandal, the VAS Chair Konstantin Penchev fired the three senior judges involved in it: Panayot Genkov was removed from office as the Head of the “First A” Department of VAS; Judge Nikolay Urumov was dismissed as the head of the Third Department of VAS; and Judge Andrey Ikonomov was fired from the head position of the Fifth Department of VAS.

In addition, relatives of the former Appellate Prosecutor of Burgas, Yordan Ivanov and of the Head of the Sofia Appellate Court, Veselin Pengezov, have also received building permits.

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