NEW DISCLOSURES: Pascal’s gang paid 1 million euros in bribes every month! Stefan gave Petya a Prada bank bag for nearly 8 grand

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Weeks after the arrest of the head of the “Customs” Agency, Petya Bankova, and the smugglers Marin and Stefan Dimitrovi – Yarite, it became clear that the group of the smuggling boss Nikola Nikolov-Paskal paid bribes to police officers and customs chiefs in the amount of at least 1 million euros every month, so that trucks with cigarettes, fuel and other high-excise goods pass through the Bulgarian borders unimpeded, claims a capital weekly.

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The Chief Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Zhivko Kotsev, also shined in the corruption affair as the main actor. To avoid his arrest, however, he preferred to become an anonymous witness against Pascal and his gang. We remind you that he was summarily dismissed by acting Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev after photos of him with the smugglers were leaked to the media. On Thursday, he was also charged with involvement in Pascal’s criminal group.

Those familiar with the DANS investigation into corruption at the highest levels of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and customs and patronage of smuggling schemes claim that the first data on the payment of bribes came as early as June 2022. Then a meeting was detected in Sofia between Stefan Dimitrov – Malkata Yara, nephew of the former customs officer from Svilengrad, Georgi Radev – Vechnia, who bears the name and surname of his uncle, and the then director of the National Police, Vencislav Kirchev.

It is claimed that the meeting was arranged with the mediation of Boyko Rashkov and that after it Kirchev left with 250,000 euros in his pockets and with a commitment to secure a corridor through the largest border points in the country for illegal import and export of high excise goods . A month after the meeting, however, Kirchev, who is the former director of the Regional Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Haskovo, was dismissed from his post by the Acting Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev, and his place was taken by Atanas Ilkov.

A curious detail is that while Demerdzhiev was acting interior minister, DANS suspended the investigation into smuggling and the involvement of senior police and customs officers in the patronage of Pascal canals along the borders.

Bribes in the total amount of 1 million euros were sent to government officials every month.

The investigation was renewed at the end of 2023, when the security services received information that Nikola Nikolov-Paskal, his treasurer Georgi Radev – Vechnia and father and son Dimitrovi had created a new smuggling channel for importing illegal cigarettes from Turkey.

According to operational data, Pascal’s group opened two illegal cigarette factories in Edirne. Cigarettes produced in Turkey were mainly sent to Greece, and at least 5 tons of duty-free cigarettes were made every week. The cigarettes entered Bulgaria from Turkey, and then crossed the Bulgarian-Greek border, hidden under boxes of frozen pasta.

According to the head of DANS, Plamen Tonchev, who was heard by a parliamentary committee at the beginning of the week, the main role of the arrested Marin Dimitrov – Yarata and his son Stefan Dimitrov was to make contact with people in high public positions in order to ensure protection. In return, the individuals from the state structures received remuneration or were provided with career growth. According to Plamen Tonchev, the arrested head of the “Customs” Agency Petya Bankova and Zhivko Kotsev received “gifts and benefits” in the parking lot of the parliament from Stefan Dimitrov – Malkata Yara.

Tonchev also announced that until April 2023, Petya Bankova was a DANS employee and did not have official access to information regarding the activities of the Customs Agency. However, after becoming the head of customs, it was established that Bankova maintained a relationship of trust with the smuggler Stefan Dimitrov. It is publicly known, for example, that for last Christmas she received an expensive gift from him – a bag from the latest collection of the Italian fashion house “Prada” for 3,800 euros (over 7,500 BGN), with which Bankova even came to work several times, but then felt , that the luxurious thing “stings the eyes” and hides it.

It is believed that the bribe payments were approved by Nikola Nikolov-Pascal.

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