Sofia Prosecition Modifies Charges on KTB Money Drain

Sofia City Prosecutor's office has dropped the charges against four Corporate Commercial Bank (KTB) employees, a lawyer of one of them revealed.

Hristo Botev, representing KTB Chief Accountant Borislava Treneva - Kyuchukova, said short before a sitting at the Sofia City Court during which the detention imposed on the employees is due to be considered.

In Botev's words, KTB CEO Orlin Rusev and Chief Cashier Margarita Petrova are due to be charged with embezzlement between 2011 and June 19, 2014, and Chief Accountant Mariya Dimova, alongside her deputy Treneva - Kyuchukova, are to face charges of complicity as they allegedly helped the other two to cover their tracks.

The misappropriated sum was BGN 205 M (roughly EUR 102.5 M), and it was gradually taken from the bank over a period of three years, neither just on June 19 nor in sacks, Botev told private channel bTV.

Chief Cashier Margarita Petrova's lawyer Tatiana Doncheva was quoted by website Dariknews.bg as saying that the new charges were "mainly" based on testimony given by Boris Lazov, a former colleague of Tsvetan Vasilev.

Earlier, the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB)'s Governor Ivan Iskrov said in a statement the central bank had evidence that KTB majority shareholder Tsvetan Vasilev had withdrawn the same amount of money using "third-party" assistance.

Iskrov also reported the money had been taken out of KTB in a number of "sacks".

The claims came from BNB as it repealed on Friday the license of KTB, Bulgaria's fourth-largest bank.

They were submitted to the Prosecutor's Office, pushed Chief Prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov to announce Vasilev, currently in Vienna, would be summoned regarding "the illegal withdrawal of unusually large sums on June 19, 2014".

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