More Fingers Point at 'The Killers' over Bulgaria Top Banker Murder

Emil Kyulev, one of the richest men in Bulgaria, was being driven to work in Sofia in his BMW sports utility vehicle on October 26, 2005 when, shortly after 9:00 am he was shot and killed by a man hiding in the bushes. Photo by Sofia Photo Agency

А gang, who allegedly carried out a number of assassinations, is most probably behind the slaying of Bulgaria's top banker Emil Kyulev five years ago, insiders from the prosecutor's office say.

Five years have passed since the murder and Bulgaria's prosecutors have failed to make a single in-depth investigation into it, Dnevnik daily reported, citing unnamed high-ranking representatives from the prosecutor's office.

According to the sources "The Killers" gang were among the suspects right after the murder, but the investigation reached a dead end following a faulty DNA analysis.

Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov was the first to make public this version last month, saying that it is quite possible that "The Killers" gang had a motive and were accomplices in the murder of Emil Kyulev, even though this is not backed by any evidence for the time being.

"Rumen Rachev and lawyer Lukov, who are believed to have been murdered by the gang, have been involved in a scheme for redistribution of money, which Kyulev owed to owners of former banks," the minister explained.

Emil Kyulev, one of the richest men in Bulgaria, was being driven to work in Sofia in his BMW sports utility vehicle on October 26, 2005 when, shortly after 9:00 am he was shot and killed by a man hiding in the bushes.

Kyulev was the head of DZI Group, the biggest insurance and banking firm in the country, with more than 12,000 employees and USD 585 M in assets. He was close to all the major political parties and served as an economic adviser to President Georgi Parvanov.

His murder was particularly shocking because he did not fit the profile of the smugglers, extortionists and drug dealers who have been slain in a boom of organized crime-related deaths at that time.

"The Killers" gang is believed to be behind several assassinations around the country, including the murder of controversial football club president Yuriy Galev in June and businessman Rumen Rachev at the beginning of July last year.

In the middle of September police arrested for the second time the President of the Bulgarian Sumo Federation, Petar Stoyanov aka the Chieftain, over the murder of businessman Rumen Rachev last summer in the northern city of Shumen.

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