site.btaFormer Military Medical Academy Chief Charged with Inflicting 16 Million Leva Detriment on His Institution

Former Military Medical Academy Chief Charged with Inflicting 16 Million Leva Detriment on His Institution

Sofia, December 6 (BTA) - The Sofia Military District Prosecution Office charged former Military Medical Academy (MMA) chief Stoyan Tonev with concluding deals that inflicted 16,330,495 leva detriment on the MMA, the prosecution service reported on Tuesday.

An investigation found that Tonev had signed five contracts commissioning the Astra laboratory to carry out highly specialized medical tests using MMA equipment for which the laboratory had to pay rent. Two of the contracts set the rent as a percentage of Astra's revenues instead of determining it on a market basis. The percentage was 37.55 per cent, although in another similar case the MMA took 60 per cent of the contractor's revenues. Three of the contracts with Astra set a rent which was lower than market levels, the prosecution said. Under these contracts, the MMA had to pay for maintenance, consumables and spare parts.

The prosecution also brought charges against Andrei Ivanov, who, in his capacity as head of the Diagnostic Imaging Department and head of the Computed and Magnetic Resonance Tomography Clinic at the MMA, reportedly overstepped his powers in order to secure pecuniary benefit for himself and for the Astra laboratory, in which he owns a majority stake.

Since Tonev knowingly allowed his subordinate Ivanov to commit malfeasance in office, the ex-MMA chief is also charged with connivance.

Bail was set for each of them at 10,000 leva.