{"id":45430,"date":"2019-02-07T17:40:09","date_gmt":"2019-02-07T14:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/?p=45430"},"modified":"2019-02-09T12:05:12","modified_gmt":"2019-02-09T10:05:12","slug":"bulgarian-banks-accounts-to-be-frozen-again-over-eur-22-m-fraud-in-romania","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/en\/bulgarian-banks-accounts-to-be-frozen-again-over-eur-22-m-fraud-in-romania.html","title":{"rendered":"Bulgarian Bank\u2019s Accounts to Be Frozen Again over EUR 22 M Fraud in Romania"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A private law enforcement agent (PLEA) is once again\nrequesting a freeze on the accounts of the Bulgarian First Investment<\/strong> Bank<\/strong>\n(FIB or Fibank) once the lender lost its case in the Supreme Court of\nCassations (SCC). Per the Court\u2019s final rule, FIB must transfer to the Romanian\nMinistry of Agriculture a EUR 22 million bank guarantee that it owes as\ncollateral in a deal with food deliveries for Romania\u2019s poor people. The deal\nis notoriously known as the biggest one-time theft of European Union (EU)\nfunds, conducted with the complicity of the Bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On January 28, 2019, the SCC issued its decision 340<\/a>, rejecting FIB’s claims against an enforcement action by the Ministry of Agriculture of Romania, confirmed by the Sofia Court of Appeals in 2016. The previous freeze of FIB’s accounts took place at the end of 2016, but the Bank managed to stop the enforcement by appealing with the SCC. Now, FIB’s last chance is to overturn the very cause for the case in the Bucharest court, where the hearing is scheduled for Monday, February 11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A PLEA has resumed the enforcement proceedings against FIB <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

However, the chance that the guarantee will be dropped is\nnot that big, according to the case\u2019s documents, which Bivol has examined. Our\nsite has been following for years this scandal which OLAF and the Romanian\nAnti-Corruption Prosecution Office are also investigating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bivol sent a question to the central bank, (the Bulgarian National Bank, BNB), asking whether it would confirm or refute the information about the freeze on FIB’s accounts. The following terse comment was received from the BNB\u2019s press office, which does not refute the information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJudicial proceedings\nprogress in accordance with the established procedural order and information on\ntheir development is available only to the parties in the specific case. The\nBNB implements court decisions in so far as they pertain to it.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The specific\ninformation you require from the BNB is not public information, and the facts and\ncircumstances concerning accounts\u2019 and deposits\u2019 balances and transactions are\nbank secrets under Art. 62 of the Credit Institutions Act.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The office of private enforcement agent Ulyana Dimolarova\ndid not respond to the request for comment on the stage of the enforcement\nproceedings in case 20168580401364, which had been resumed on January 31, 2019.\nThe Romanian side\u2019s lawyer, Milcho Bengarski, did not answer his phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When there is no oil<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everything started in 2012, when the Bulgarian company\n“VM Corporation” won a public tender for the supply of flour and cooking\noil for the poor in Romania. To win the tender, the company provided bank\nguarantees from FIB for a total of EUR 33\nmillion<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • \"\"
    Bank guarantee for EUR 9.4 million<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>
  • \"\"
    Bank guarantee for EUR 278,000<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>
  • \"\"
    Bank guarantee for EUR 22 million<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    The Romanian Agency for Payments and Intervention in\nAgriculture (APIA) transferred the money to VM Corporation, which did not\ndeliver any flour and\/or oil, and then FIB refused to pay. The money\ndisappeared in offshore accounts, and ever since then APIA and FIB have been\nleading court battles for the guarantees. It seems now that the saga has\nreached its final stretch. The SCC ruled that the claim against FIB is valid\nand the rule is final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Beyond the court battles, however, there is a twisted\ncriminal story that is also evidence of a serious deficit in the system for\nprotecting European funds from theft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    OLAF and the Romanian National Anticorruption Prosecution\nOffice (DNA), now the National Anticorruption Directorate, are the bodies\nengaged in the unraveling of the affair. Their investigation established that\nthe masterminds of the scheme include Bulgarian nationals Ivan “The\nUniversal” Tanev and Mila “The Bloody Mila” Georgieva from \u201cThe\nKillers\u201d gang along with several other helpers. However, the indictment explicitly\nstates that the scheme has been implemented with FIB’s complicity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    A destitute individual with a bank guarantee for EUR 33 million<\/strong> On paper, the owner of the company is the impoverished Bulgarian citizen Valeri Miloradov Petrov<\/strong>. Bivol was able to find him and he told us in a camera-recorded interview how he has worked as a professional “strawman” for different companies. Regarding VM Corporation specifically, he said that the Bank had kept his company seal and that he had visited FIB’s headquarters to sign documents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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