US Ambassador: Former Bulgarian Interior Minister Under Investigation

James Warlick has claimed that Rumen Petkov is under investigation, of which he has been informed. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria's former Interior Minister Rumen Petkov has been informed by the US Embassy in Sofia on the reasons behind the annulment of his non-immigrant visa.

"There is an ongoing criminal investigation against Petkov, that is why his visa was canceled", US Ambassador James Warlick said on private channel bTV Thursday. He pointed out that the former Interior Minister knows very well why the visa has been annuled.

Warlick denied any pressure from the current Bulgarian GERB government in relation to the case.

Last Wednesday The US Embassy in Sofia confirmed the previously reported annulment of Petkov's visa, based on information about a criminal investigation of him.

On Friday, however, Petkov pointed out that he has received information from the Supreme Cassations Prosecutor's Office and the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office that he has not been convicted and that the National Investigation Service currently has no records for initiated pre-trial proceedings and indictments against him.

Rumen Petkov resigned from his post as Interior Minister on April 13, 2008 after a series of scandals sparked allegations of corruption and mafia connections in his department.

A wire-tap information leak from his ministry had revealed that he had had a meeting in 2006 with Plamen Galev and Angel Hristov, a pair of suspected mafia bosses and benefactors at the small and impoverished town of Dupnitsa.

The two were acquitted at the beginning of November of charges for leading an organized crime group. In April 2009 Rumen Petkov was also cleared of any wrongdoing.

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