Bulgarian Prosecution to Decide on Money Laundering Probe Against Hristo Biserov

The Bulgarian prosecutor's office has three months to decide what steps it will take in the money laundering probe against former deputy speaker of parliament Hristo Biserov.

The former deputy chairperson of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) made use of his right and has asked for the probe into money laundering against him to be suspended or referred to court.

A similar request has been made by the other defendant Ivaylo Glavinkov, daily Dnevnik informs.

Two years ago, Biserov and Glavinkov were charged with several crimes, including money laundering, with the lawsuit being divided.

On December 20, Sofia City Court (SGS) ordered to the prosecution to come up with a decision on whether to suspend the lawsuit or to refer it to court within three months.

On December 1, SGS acquitted Biserov of all three charges, which had been brought against him by the prosecution in the spring.

At this time, the money laundering charge was not included among the accusations.

The verdict of the court was justified with the inability to convict Biserov on basis of the gathered evidence as this possibility had been exhausted in the pre-trial proceedings.

The former deputy speaker of parliament was charged with three crimes - tax evasion amounting to nearly BGN 19 000; violation of the currency legislation by undeclared currency deals and failure to declare before the court of auditors nearly BGN 700 000 held in Swiss bank accounts.

In order to prove that Biserov and Glavinkov were involved in money laundering, the prosecution requested lifting the bank secrecy applicable to Swiss bank accounts.

The authorities in Switzerland refused to do so, as according to Swiss legislation, Biserov had not committed a crime.

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