Usury

A police operation began this morning in Kazanlak. The news was reported by the Bulgarian National Television.

The operation is against usury and the distribution of drugs. Persons with criminal record are checked.

On the photo: Zlatko Baretata

A three-member criminal appeals court on Wednesday convicted a former socialist deputy education minister for collusion in usury and money laundering, in a case involving a loan granted to a tobacco seller from Kavala, northern Greece.

A magistrate remanded a 65-year-old man from Attica in custody on Wednesday on allegations that he was the head of a usury ring in Ioannina, northwestern Greece.

Another five people who were arrested at the same time as the main suspect were bailed.

They are accused of being members of a criminal gang, usury, blackmail and money laundering.

A court ruled on Monday the mayor of Galiche village, Tsenko Chokov, is to be released from custody and placed under house arrest for health reasons.

The Specialized Criminal Court of Bulgaria took into account a medical report saying the arrest of Chokov, indicted on charges of running an organized criminal gang in his village, "unlocked" some old diseases and caused some new ones.

Former Finance Minister Stoyan Alexandrov is being investigated for usury, announced the speaker of the Chief Prosecutor Rumyana Arnaudova on bTV.

The check started on September 8 and is being carried out by the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office. It is for the period 2002-2016 when Alexandrov was the director of a bank but in his capacity as a natural person.

Police in the Cretan prefecture of Iraklio said on Wednesday that they had broken two criminal rings operating in the area – one trading in drugs and the other an established usury and extortion racket.