{"id":44730,"date":"2019-01-16T18:18:50","date_gmt":"2019-01-16T15:18:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/?p=44730"},"modified":"2019-01-18T15:01:32","modified_gmt":"2019-01-18T13:01:32","slug":"panama-papers-controversial-mps-trusted-lawyer-owns-key-offshores-the-spectrum-of-bulgarian-kgb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/en\/panama-papers-controversial-mps-trusted-lawyer-owns-key-offshores-the-spectrum-of-bulgarian-kgb.html","title":{"rendered":"Panama Papers: Trusted Lawyer of Controversial MP Owns Key Offshores, Ghost of Bulgarian KGB"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Alexander Paraskevov Angelov <\/strong>is the ultimate beneficiary of the offshore \u201cViafot\u201d Ltd., registered in the British Virgin Islands, according to the \u201cPanama Papers\u201d to which journalists of Bivol received access under an agreement with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists ( ICIJ). Anguelov is the closest and most trusted lawyer of media mogul and controversial lawmaker from the party Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS),\u00a0Delyan Peevski,<\/strong> and the son of a powerful officer from the sinister “Bulgarian KGB” – the Communist regime\u2019s secret services \u2013 the State Security (“Darzhavna Sigurnost” or DS).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Viafot”\nis the owner of the Bulgarian company “Viafot Investment Bulgaria”,\nwhich in the last two years had been attempting a takeover of the weapons\nfactory “Dunarit” in the Bulgarian Danube city of Russe with the\nsupport of all State institutions. The owner of “Dunarit” Emiliyan\nGebrev complained in a TV interview that after he had agreed to become part of\nthe factory\u2019s ownership, he had been attacked by the repressive machine of the\nProsecutor’s Office and the National Revenue Agency. There had been even a\nphysical assault of the businessman and his son.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDunarit\u201d is associated with the former majority shareholder\nand owner of the collapsed Corporate Commercial Bank (CCB) Tsvetan Vassilev<\/strong> and \u201cViafot\u201d with Delyan Peevski<\/strong>. The two were close until 2014, when a falling-out\nbetween them led to the Bank\u2019s collapse. The profitable factory remained under\nVassilev\u2019s control, and the takeover attempt is a logical continuation of the\nwar for the CCB\u2019s inheritance, in which the companies associated with Peevski\nenjoy the support of the State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MP Delyan Peevski is considered to be the visible symbol and\nemanation of the “Deep State” in Bulgaria – as a front of former State\nSecurity officers and agents, close to the DPS<\/strong>\nparty and to the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP)<\/strong>, who are the backstage\nmasterminds of the political processes and who dominate huge businesses. The\nevents associated with Peevski are characterized by brutality and blatant\nneglect of laws and rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peevski is often called a “child prodigy” for\nhaving had an unexplained stellar career and business since 2001. At that time\nhe rose on the political horizon as a young man with high school education who\nsuddenly became the Director of the Port of Varna, followed by the post of\npolitical secretary to the Minister of Transport, followed by a career as\nmagistrate, lawmaker and deputy minister without the necessary qualifications\nand biography. Since 2007, after having received unrestricted financing from\nthe CCB and personally by Tsvetan Vassilev, Delyan Peevski is the owner,\ncontroller and monopolist of the media market in Bulgaria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2013, when the BSP came to power and formed a government\nled by Prime Minister, Plamen Oresharski, Peevski was elected Head of the\nNational Security Agency (DANS) in an extremely outrageous manner, which\nsparked massive protest rallies that led to his resignation and to the\nresignation of Oresharski\u2019s government. Called by Spiegel magazine the “Iceberg\nof Corruption” in Bulgaria, Delyan Peevski has been continuously expanding\nhis business empire and political influence over the years, regardless of the\npolitical situation. His mentors are the masterminds of the political and\nsocial model known as #WHO<\/strong>, a model creating\nthe lasting feeling in Bulgaria that not\nthe particular Prime Minister, but namely # WHO runs and controls everything in\nthe country<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I am not\nPeevski’s lawyer”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Angelov argued publicly in 2015 that he was not Peevski\u2019s\nlawyer and knew him only “for three-four years”. Questions about his\nrelationship with Peevski were asked in connection with Angelov joining the\nmanagement of the football club “Levski”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alexander Angelov is a member of the boards of directors and\nrepresents key enterprises from the business empire of Peevski and of Peevski\u2019s\nmother, Irena Krasteva, such as the \u201cRodina\u201d Publishing House, the \u201cUnited\nBulgarian Newspapers\u201d, the newspaper Standart<\/em>\nand others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For many years, Delyan Peevski did not declare any property, except for an old \u201cOpel\u201d automobile, despite numerous indirect evidence that he controls a massive business. He began to shed light on his property only after 2016, and at the moment he is the wealthiest lawmaker in the Bulgarian Parliament, where he very rarely shows up. Nevertheless, the declared property is still the tip of the iceberg of Peevski\u2019s assets, as evidenced by a leaked portfolio<\/a> of the associated with him company \u201cTGI Middle East\u201d, registered in Dubai.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the key assets associated with Peevski is the\nBulgarian cigarette holding and tobacco manufacturer \u201cBulgartabac\u201d, privatized\nin 2011.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Tsvetan Vassilev’s public statements, Alexander\nAngelov is the person who had compiled and had sent to Vassilev\u2019s email address\nthe\nscheme for the privatization of \u201cBulgartabac\u201d<\/a>. The scheme had also included\nthe names of three offshore companies that have had to set aside a 10%\ncommission for Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, his friend Alexander\nStaliysky and Ahmed Dogan, the former leader of the DPS and the Movement\u2019s\nLifetime Honorary Chairman, as Vassilev claims. However, a check by Bivol\nrevealed that the offshores had been closed not long after the privatization\ndeal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vassilev further claims that Angelov has brought to him a list of companies and assets that\nPeevski had wanted to obtain from him in the midst of their conflict, just\nbefore the CCB\u2019s bankruptcy: “This list came from Peevski<\/em>, it was brought by his lawyer Alexander Angelov<\/em>. This is a\npure racket<\/em>,” Vassilev said in a TV interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Let’s sit down\ntogether, the four us – me, Peevski, Alexander Angelov and Bisser Lazov and see\nwho is lying,<\/em>” the banker suggested, as the TV host remarked that the\nlist was just a piece of paper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Children of State Security<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 In 2009, Angelov\ntogether with attorney Geno Andreev<\/strong>\ncreated the consultancy company “Aviora Consult”. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>

Att. Alexander Paraskevov<\/p><\/div>

\"\"<\/a>

Att. Geno Andreev<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Geno Andreev<\/strong> is\nalso featured in documents related to Bulgartabac and other companies from the\nMP’s business empire. Bivol first mentioned the name of Geno Rumenov Andreev<\/strong> in the publication “Bulgartabac Mafia<\/a>“.\nIn addition, he is listed as one of persons who may be appointed as managers of\nBT INVEST<\/strong>. Geno Andreev was also\nappointed for some time as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Technomarket Bulgaria JSC<\/strong> in mid-2016\nwhen Peevski was majority owner of the company through TGI Middle East, which\nBivol investigated<\/a>\nin detail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andreev\u2019s father, Rumen\nAndreev<\/a>, is a longtime head of the National Investigation, a former Deputy\nInterior Minister during the term of another Socialist Prime Minister – Sergei\nStanishev (now leader of the Party of European Socialists, PES). Andreev has an\nimpressive CV as a State Security officer, including training at a KGB school\nin Moscow. He committed suicide last year amidst strange circumstances. It was\nnever reported in the media and the reasons remain unknown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peevski, himself, received his first appointment as an\ninvestigator at the fragile age of 24 at the suggestion of the same Rumen\nAndreev, then a member of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), and with the\nlobbying of the close to DPS then-National Investigation Head, Angel\nAlexandrov<\/a>, who also died under unexplained circumstances last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Alexander Angelov\u2019s father – Paraskev Paraskevov<\/strong> sits on the board of \u201cAviora Consult\u201d. Paraskevov started and spent his entire career as a high-ranking officer in the former State Security, in the so-called counterintelligence, mainly spying against Turkey. He is remembered as one of the most successful DS recruiters, as some of his agents “grew” to become lawmakers and journalists in the transition period after the fall of the Communist regime. In 1990, he was appointed Deputy Director of the National Service for the Protection of the Constitution<\/strong>. It is the State Security\u2019s heir by ideology and staff. It was renamed later and its successors are the National Investigation Services (NIS<\/strong>) and DANS<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After his retirement, Paraskevov has worked as an insurer close to the infamous \u201cIntergroup<\/strong>\u201d, associated with mafia boss Poli Pantev, dramatically executed in Aruba 18 years ago. In 1994, during the term of the Socialist government of Prime Minister Zhan Videnov, Paraskevov was appointed<\/strong> Deputy Interior Minister<\/strong> in charge of National Security, including the-then National Service for Combatting Organized Crime (NSBOP). He remained at the post until the beginning of 1997. \u00a0At that same time, his colleague Rumen Andreev was appointed Deputy Director of NIS. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

#Who is representing\nPeevski?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On July 20, 2017<\/strong>,\nthe exiled in Belgrade former CCB majority shareholder, Tsvetan Vassilev,\nsought protection by the United States under the “Global Magnitsky Act<\/strong> “. Vassilev filed his complaint with the US Department of Justice<\/strong>, claiming that\nhe had been subjected to political repression in Bulgaria because of his\nattempts to oppose the corruption model in the country. He directly accuses Delyan Peevski <\/strong>and Prosecutor General Sotir Tsatsarov<\/strong> of criminal and repressive\nactivities. In response and as a defense strategy, Peevski filed an objection\nto these charges on August 29, 2017<\/strong>.\nUnder US law, US consulting companies are dealing with both claims for whose\nservices Vassilev pays USD 50,000 a month and Peevski \u2013 USD 30,000 a month,\nplus the extra costs. The consulting companies, in turn, are approaching and\nlobbying with various US politicians, members of the Congress and the\ngovernment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Namely, \u201cAviora Consult\u201d has concluded a contract with a\nlobbying firm in the United States by to defend Delyan Peevski from Tsvetan\nVassilev’s accusations under the Magnitsky Act and namely Paraskev Paraskevov’s\nsignature stands under this contract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Namely, Paraskev Paraskevov’s signature stands under the contract with a lobbying firm concluded in the United States by \u201cAviora Consult\u201d to defend Delyan Peevski from Tsvetan Vassilev’s accusations under the Magnitsky Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The former DS colonel Paraskev Paraskevov, father of attorney Alexandre Angelov is leading the defense of MP Delyan Peevski against the Magnitski Act accusations in the USA.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What is the origin of\nlawyer Alexander Angelov\u2019s nearly BGN 40 million?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the \u201cPanama Papers, \u201cViafot\u201d appears as early as 2013. It has been registered by the law firm \u201cMossack & Fonseca\u201d at the request of a Cyprus partner company that operates in Bulgaria. The British Virgin Islands register lists the ultimate owners and directors who are Cypriot citizens. <\/p>\n\n\n\n