site.btaFormer Head of National Intelligence Service Kirov Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison

Sofia, January 23 (BTA) - The Military Court has come out with a verdict of 15 years in jail and confiscation of half of the property of Lt. Gen. Kircho Kirov, former head of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), it emerged at a Tuesday briefing of the Military District Prosecution. The verdict is liable to appeal.

Gen. Kirov was accused of embezzling over 5 million leva during a period of five years from 2007 to 2011 in complicity with a trusted subordinate identified as Dimiter Lidarev. The embezzled money amounted to 39 per cent of the specific costs of NIS which were not subject to checks by the Audit Office at that time.

Lidarev, in turn, was sentenced to three years in prison and five years probation. Military prosecutor Elin Aleksov said he had acted honourably and has pleaded guilty to the fact that he has forged documents for withdrawal and accounting of the sums at Kirov's orders.

The embezzled money was described as necessary for an already completed activity. There is no evidence that it was used for intelligence operations. The prosecution added that the Commission for Withdrawal of Criminal Assets has been notified and has to establish for what the money has been used.

In May 2016, the Military Appellate Court upheld a ten-year prison sentence for Gen. Kirov again on embezzlement charges, but the Supreme Court of Cassation returned the case to the court of previous instance over procedural violations.