Bulgarian GERB MP Arrested for Extortion

One Bulgarian MP from the ruling GERB party has been arrested by the special anti-mafia unit GDBOP on charges of extortion.

The Member of the Parliament from the ruling, center-right Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria, GERB, party, Dimitar Avramov, has been arrested for trading influence.

The news was reported late Tuesday by Steliyana Kozhuharova, spokesperson of Chief Prosecutor, Boris Velchev.

Avramov was detained during a special operation of the Main Directorate for Combatting Organized Crime, GDBOP, the State Agency for National Security, DANS, and the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office.

Pre-legal proceedings have been launched against Avramov on charges of asking and receiving BGN 50 000 to exert pressure on an employee from the Regional Directorate "Agriculture" to grant subsidies for farming lands. The owner of the lands is the person who alerted the authorities that he has been forced to pay the amount or transfer part of his business to the MP.

Avramov is being held behind bars for 24 hours. The Chief Prosecutor has notified the Speaker of the Parliament, Tsetska Tsacheva, about the case. He also announced the MP will be stripped of immunity during the day Wednesday.

It was intially reported that two other people, who, curiously enough, are GDBOP employees, have also been arrested at the same time, for the same crime and on the same charges. The news was announced by GDBOP Chief, Stanimir Florov. According to Florov, the two had BGN 12 500 on them at the time of the arrest.

Sofia City Prosecutor, Nikolay Kokinov, told bTV the arrest was for extortion and the crime is very serious. He further confirmed the bust of the two GDBOP employees, but refuted information they were involved in the same crime.

Avramov was born in 1977 and has been elected MP from the Montana voting region in northwestern Bulgaria. He is a member of the GERB parliamentary group, of the Parliamentary Agriculture Committee and the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Policy and Defense. He has a degree in economy.

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