Bulgarian Authorities Release 3 'Bosses' Busted in 'Energy Fraud' Operation

The offices of Risk Engineering in the Borovo district in the Bulgarian capital Sofia, photo by BGNES

Krum Atanasov and Ivo Lefterov, former CEOs of Bulgaria's National Electric Company, NEK, together with Sabin Sabinov, CEO of Worley Parsons in Bulgaria, all arrested on Friday on suspicion of fraud in the energy sector, have been released. 

Speaking to Offnews on Monday, Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office spokesperson Zornitsa Taskova explained that the three bosses were detained in police custody which legally lasts no more than 24 hours.

Taskova added the prosecutor’s office has not asked for the case to be prolonged.

The three – Atanasov, Lefterov, and Sabinov – have not been officially charged, pending the analysis of documents seized from the offices of Worley Parsons and Risk Engineering.

The police operation took place on Friday in 17 offices in total, located in the capital Sofia, in the offices of Risk Engineering, the western city of Pernik, and the Danube towns of Kozloduy and Belene.

Worley Parsons is the company that was hired by NEK for the consultancy of the project to build a second, Russian-sponsored Nuclear Power Plant, NPP, in the Danube town of Belene.
Risk Engineering of Bulgarian businessman Bogomil Manchev is a subcontractor for the consultancy.

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