18 Persons Charged in Corpbank Case
Sofia, February 22 (BTA) - The Specialized Prosecution Office (SPO) has completed its investigation into the case of the failed Corporate Commercial Bank (Corpbank) and has brought charges against 18 people. Over 400 witnesses have been questioned in the case, 90 expert examinations have been conducted, and over 1,000 volumes of evidence have been compiled, the SPO reported on its website on Wednesday.
The list of defendants is topped by Corpbank's former majority shareholder Tsvetan Vassilev. He has been charged with leading a crime group that siphoned off Corpbank funds. The prosecution says Vassilev embezzled Corpbank money in 144 separate instances.
Second on the list is the bank's former Internal Audit Department chief Snezhana Stefanova, who has been charged with participating in the crime group and having been involved in 138 instances of embezzlement. Next comes KPMG's auditor Margarita Goleva, who is also named as a member of the group. She will be held responsible for 69 instances of embezzlement.
Former Corpbank executive director Alexander Panteleev will be sued for involvement with Vassilev's crime group and for 130 instances of embezzlement. KPMG's auditor Krassimir Hadjidinev has been accused of 68 instances of embezzlement. Another former executive director, Georgi Hristov, will face legal action for 99 instances of embezzlement.
A third former executive director of Corpbank, Ilian Zafirov, is also believed to have participated in the crime group and to be responsible for 38 instances of embezzlement. Georgi Zyapkov, who headed the bank's Credit Department, will be sued for 130 instances of embezzlement. Elka Stoikova, former chief expert at the Corpbank Directorate for Analysis and Processing of Credit Transactions, is also named among the crime group members and will be held liable for six instances of embezzlement.
The bank's ex-chief accountant Maria Dimova will only be sued for participating in the crime group. The same applies to ex-deputy chief accountant Borislava Treneva-Kyuchoukova and chief cashier Margarita Petrova.
Three former high-ranking officers of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) are also said to have been involved in the Corpbank case. These include two ex-deputy governors of the central bank and ex-chiefs of its Banking Supervision Department - Tsvetan Gounev and Roumen Simeonov. They have been charged with malfeasance in office because they apparently failed to exercise control over Corpbank. The third former BNB officer is Slaviyana Danailova, who was head of unit at the Lenders Supervision Department.
There are three defendants whose role in the crime group is still unclear. These are Svetlana Georgieva, Elena Indjeva and Rangel Stoichev.
The megacase of Corpbank (once Bulgaria's fourth biggest lender) actually began several months before the ailing bank was closed in June 2014. The investigation started on an alert by Protest Network concerning the funding of companies linked to Tsvetan Vassilev. But it was not until the end of July 2014 that the prosecution service went after the majority shareholder. By that time Corpbank was non-operational and was under special supervision by the central bank.
Prosecutors said back then that 206 million leva of Corpbank's capital was missing and identified Vassilev as the main culprit. Meanwhile, Vassilev escaped abroad, and today he is still in the Serbian capital Belgrade. The Serbian court has so far denied Bulgaria's requests for his extradition. Vassilev has rejected the prosecution's accusations that he milked Corpbank and has said that he has always used his own money. He blames the lender's bankruptcy on Delyan Peevski, a controversial businessman and member of Parliament.
It has been three years since the investigation began. The prosecution says this is not long for such a complicated case.
The SPO said it will publish the full text of the legal charges because the case has public significance and has attracted the attention of many Bulgarians. According to the press release, the Prosecution of the Republic of Bulgaria is implementing "a policy of openness to the public regarding the work of the institution."
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