Bulgarian 'Killer' Election for European Sumo Head 'Fake'

Petar Stoyanov, aka The Chieftain, has been left in the arrest for the duration of the investigation against him. Photo by BGNES

Sergey Korobko, who served as president of the European Sumo Union, has denied reports that Bulgarian Petar Stoyanov, who is behind bars on suspicions of masterminding contract murders, has been elected head of the European organization.

"A fake meeting was held in Brussels on 18 September 2010 and was organized with the help of Stoyanov's dirty money", Sergey Korobko wrote in an e-mail to Novinite.com.

"Mr. Stoyanov had never had and has no relation to the Direct Committee of the European Sumo Union."

According to Korobko, Stoyanov, who is president of the Bulgarian Sumo Wrestling Federation, was assisted by "the Secretary General of ESU, Mr. Gadd, (Stoyanov paid his holidays in Bulgaria) and Treasurer of the ESU, Mr. Wahl (convicted of financial fraud in the ESU)."

"Most of those present at the meeting in Brussels had no official documents and were simply tourists (airfare and living expenses at the hotel paid for with dirty money Stoyanov)," Korobko said in his e-mail.

According to him the members of the ESU - the national sumo federation, which are leaders in global and European sumo such as Russia, Ukraine, Hungary, Poland, Estonia, Czech Republic, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Lithuania did not recognize the meeting in Brussels

Mr. Dariusz Rozum, Vice-President of the ESU, was not present at this meeting, Korobko claims, refuting earlier reports.

Petar Stoyanov is a leading figure in the Bulgarian sumo world. He has a silver and two bronze World Medals in amateur sumo. Apart from being president of the Bulgarian Sumo Federation, he serves as a manager and coach.

Last month Stoyanov, aka "the Chieftain", was left in permanent detention on suspicions that he led an organized group of paid assassins.

For the past two months, Stoyanov and four other men, suspected of participating in the organized crime group known as "Killers", have been on and off in the arrest as courts have released them on bail claiming the prosecutors and the police failed to present sufficient evidence for permanent detention.

In Shumen, the sumo wrestler is investigated for the murders of local businessman Rumen Rashev, the Veliko Tarnovo lawyer Petar Lupov, and Sofia energy businessman Borislav Georgiev, a close associate of energy tycoon Hristo Kovachki. In Sofia, Stoyanov is under investigation for the murder of football club president Yuriy Galev. His additional charge is of organizing and heading an organized crime group.

Rumen Rachev was gunned down, execution style, on July 3, 2009, in broad daylight while entering his SUV.

With the Chieftain's arrest all five individuals, who were detained during the special police operation, codenamed "The Killers" for the recent murder of controversial Samokov businessman and football boss, Yuri Galev, are back behind bars.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!