site.btaJudge Roumyana Chenalova Indicted for Offences Affecting National Electric Company

Judge Roumyana Chenalova Indicted for Offences Affecting National Electric Company

Sofia, December 2 (BTA) - Judge Roumyana Chenalova has been indicted for malfeasance in office and a document offence committed to the detriment of the National Electric Company (NEK), the Prosecution of Bulgaria reported on Friday.

According to the Prosecution, Chenalova broke the law when she gave the go-ahead for a Sofia City Court suit filed on July 18, 2013 by OET-United Electricity Traders, which initially claimed 6,459,922 leva from NEK and three months later added 4,392,706 leva to the original claim. The plaintiff failed to pay the required court fees of 258,396 leva for the original claim and 175,708 leva for the additional claim. Chenalova, who was the reporting judge in the case, was supposed to leave the claims without progress until the fees were paid. Instead of that, she scheduled a court hearing after the first claim and ordered a freeze of NEK's bank accounts within the amount claimed.

The Prosecution says that Chenalova's purpose was to provide pecuniary benefit for OET-United Electricity Traders in the amount of the unpaid fees. The judge also wanted to create a privilege for the company by ordering the trial to proceed despite the fact that the non-payment of the fees had invalidated the claims, and she wanted to ensure that the company would be able to get full satisfaction for its claims, the prosecutors said.