Bulgaria's Top Prosecutor: Organized Crime Is on Decline

Bulgaria's Chief Prosecutor, Boris Velchev, says that there is a steady trend of decline of organized crime activities in the country. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria's organized crime is weaker, less obvious, and less organized compared to five years ago, according to Chief Prosecutor, Boris Velchev.

Speaking for Darik radio Saturday, Velchev stressed that if any crime activity in Bulgaria went down, it was the organized one.

"I say this with the clear understanding that such statement could trigger irony and mockery, but it is a fact that in the last several years there is a steady trend of decline of organized crime activities, and the Netherlands, which is blocking our Schengen entry, should notice it," the Chief Prosecutor said.

According to him, not-guilty verdicts, even in high-profile cases, are also going down. His comment came as a reply to the host's words that 95% of all cases end with guilty verdicts.

Velchev vowed the same for cases related to violations of the election process, explaining that they were about 100 probes for vote buying and selling, where he expected legal sanctions.

Speaking about the planned adoption of a law for the confiscation of illegally acquired assets, the Chief Prosecutor pointed out that the first measure should be to establish the status of the property through the Revenue Agency.

Velchev further said that the main problem of the Prosecutor's Office is the lack of modern methodology for investigation of complex white collar crimes.

"We have achieved significant improvement in investigating abuse of EU funds, but not tax crimes," he stated.

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