Bulgarian Watchdog Seized BGN 8.5 M in Illegal Assets in 6 Months

In the period January-July 2012, Bulgaria's Commission for the Identification and Forfeiture of Criminal Assets (CEPACA) seized assets worth over BGN 8.5 M, up by nearly BGN 5 M from the same period in 2011.

In July 2012, the Supreme Court of Cassation (VKS) confirmed four decisions of lower-instance courts through which the watchdog requested the confiscation of assets worth BGN 2.5 M from four people who participated in fraud schemes and drug trafficking, according to a CEPACA media statement.

The court proceedings against the offenders dragged on for years, with some investigations dating back to 2006.

The longest trial was against Petar Marvakov, convicted of participating in an organized crime group and drug trafficking.

Marvakov was caught in an international police operation codenamed Moonlight, during which police seized cocaine mixed with instant mashed potatoes in August 2003 in Bolivia.

In July 2011, the Plovdiv Appellate Court upheld the confiscation of assets owned by Marvakov and his wife and by two companies related to them, the total sum exceeding BGN 839 000.

The other penal measures were imposed on people from Veliko Tarnovo, Ruse and Blagoevgrad by the territorial units of the Commission in the respective cities.

In the first 6 months of 2011, the commission seized assets worth over BGN 3.6 M, while in the same period of 2012, the state sold assets worth over BGN 8.5 M.

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