Notorious Bulgarian SAPARD Fraud Trial Fails to Kick Off

Lyudmil Stoykov (left) and Mario Nikolov (right), seen in the courtroom. Photo by BGNES

The trial against notorious Bulgarian businessmen Mario Nikolov and Lyudmil Stoykov, who are charged with large-scale SAPARD fraud in the amount of EUR 7.5 M, once again failed to kick off Friday.

This time, the reason for the postponement is that one of the other defendants, Grigor Glavev, has recently undergone surgery.

Glavev's lawyer has said her client insists on attending all court hearings, the BGNES news agency has reported.

On March 29, 2010, Mario Nikolov was sentenced to 10 years in jail and fined BGN 30 000 for document fraud and abuse of SAPARD funds.

Stoykov, however, was found not guilty and was set free by the Sofia City Court.

Mario's wife Mariyana received an 8-year prison sentence. The other 4 defendants were handed 6 year jail sentences and fines of BGN 30 000.

The case is considered a crucial test for Bulgaria's justice system, monitored by the EU and OLAF – the European Commission's anti-fraud office.

According to the indictment, the defendants created a secret association through which they sent millions from SAPARD to other companies controlled by Nikolov and Stoykov.

Nikolov and Stoykov were both sponsors of President Georgi Parvanov's campaign at the last Bulgarian Presidential Elections.

The legal process was provoked by revelations of OLAF, according to which a group of 60 Bulgarian, foreign and offshore organizations, linked with the previous government, led by Socialist Sergey Stanishev, had participated in tax fraud and money laundering.

The Nikolovs and several other defendants are also tried in another case for draining SAPARD funds, accused of having acted as an organized crime group and obtaining illegally, through fake documents, EUR 14 M in subsidies from SAPARD.

According to the indictment, the group stole the amount through document fraud in the period 2002-2005. The defendants were alleged to have used old meat processing equipment presenting it as new in order to get subsidies for a meat processing plant.

On June 30, 2010, Mario Nikolov was sentenced to 12 years in prison by the Sofia City Court on these charges. Two defendants were acquitted; one got a 3-year sentence. Nikolov's wife Mariyana was sentenced to 14 years of jail time. All of the other defendants were pronounced guilty with 10-year sentences.

Nikolov claims he is a "scapegoat" for the malfunctioning judicial system in Bulgaria thus he is appealing both sentences.

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