{"id":28602,"date":"2015-11-15T20:49:36","date_gmt":"2015-11-15T20:49:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/?p=28602"},"modified":"2016-10-26T07:58:46","modified_gmt":"2016-10-26T07:58:46","slug":"bulgarian-first-investment-bank-the-thief-who-cries-stop-thief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/en\/bulgarian-first-investment-bank-the-thief-who-cries-stop-thief.html","title":{"rendered":"Bulgarian First Investment Bank: The Thief Who Cries \u2018Stop Thief\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a press release distributed to the media, First Investment Bank (FIB) accuses Bivol of lying. The allegations of First Investment Bank\u2019s involvement in fraud with EU funds in Romania are a lie. This is evidenced by official documents and reports of the competent authorities<\/em>, is written in the press release.<\/p>\n

FIB refers to the Romanian Prosecutor’s Office official announcement of the arrest of three Romanian nationals, officials from the Agency for Payments and Interventions in Agriculture, APIA, (analogue of the Bulgarian State Fund Agriculture). It does not refute in anyway Bivol\u2019s publications.<\/p>\n

Bivol cites in its investigation another much more authoritative and important official document. It is the rule of the Criminal Court in Bucharest from October 6, 2015, in case number 35889\/3\/2015, for 60 days detention for three Romanian government officials.<\/p>\n

The rule states that Romania\u2019s National Anticorruption Department\u00a0(DNA) has established the following: Bulgarian Ivan Tanev, son of former Agriculture Minister Georgi Tanev, had actually controlled VM Corporation through the following intermediaries – attorney Snezhana Stoykova, Mila Georgieva, Stefka Stoeva, Nikolay Velinov and Vesselin Lafchiev who have been in Romania in connection with the tender procedure for deliveries of flour and cooking oil. The DNA investigation, with the help of OLAF, has established that these persons concluded contracts fraudulently with false documents, in an inaccurate and incomplete trade procedure, and were assisted in this by employees of APIA and an employee of the Bulgarian bank FIBANK which issued the bank letters of guarantee.<\/p>\n

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\"bucarest-sud-reshenie-3\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It is evident that the Romanian prosecution has done its job; it has established the APIA employees who were involved; they have been arrested and charged. The investigation, the establishment and the indictments of individuals connected with FIB who have been accessories to the crime is not the job of the Romanian prosecutors, but of their Bulgarian colleagues. However, they have not done anything. The fact that until now the Special Anti-mafia Public Prosecutor has not initiated proceedings on the base of our investigations and the documents presented in them is bewildering.<\/p>\n

Acting on the principle of “the thief is crying stop the thief”, First Investment Bank insists that it was the one that has submitted a signal to OLAF and the Prosecutor’s Office in 2013. However, this trick has not worked because the indictment of DNA is crystal clear \u2013 FIB, which is claiming that it is helping law enforcement, is itself involved in the fraud<\/p>\n

In its investigation Bivol asked a few simple questions that we will repeat:<\/p>\n