site.btaProsecutor General: Investigation of Crimes at Corpbank Should Not Be Tied to Bank's Financial Fate

ESD 18:39:30 03-09-2014
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Prosecutor General: Investigation of
Crimes at Corpbank Should Not Be Tied to
Bank's Financial Fate


Mizia, Northwestern Bulgaria, September 3 (BTA) - The
investigation of crimes at Corporate Commercial Bank (Corpbank)
is not and should not be tied to the bank's financial fate and,
consequently, to the fate of people's deposits, Prosecutor
General Sotir Tsatsarov said in reply to a journalist's question
here on Wednesday.

Corpbank has been inoperable since June 21 due to a lack of
liquid assets and has been placed under special supervision by
the central bank to allow a thorough audit and possible
restructuring. Majority owner Tsvetan Vassilev and senior
executives of the bank have been charged with embezzlement.
Vassilev is on Interpol's wanted persons list and his
whereabouts are unknown.

Tsatsarov said that in the Corpbank case the most important
problem that concerns society is the fate of the depositors'
money in the bank. According to him, there are two lines of
problems in the case: the crimes, which the prosecution is
working on, and the financial problems, which determine
Corpbank's fate as a banking institution and the fate of
people's savings.

In Tsatsarov's words, the standard answer which the depositors
can receive is in accordance to the Bank Deposits Guarantee Act,
but the case with Corpbank is not standard. He noted that such
an answer cannot be given to the people, because not for months
but for years Corpbank has been an "expensive banking decoration
placed under a lid by the State", which has made everything
within its power to keep this "lid" on, to keep its money and
that of state-owned companies underneath, and to make sure that
what lies under the lid is "clean, healthy and stable-looking".
Tsatsarov said that the people who have made deposits with a
high interest rate in Corpbank cannot be blamed, because the
bank has worked in the conditions of a banking supervision which
has created the most favourable conditions for its existence.

The Prosecutor General also said that the investigation of the
crimes and violations at Corpbank will come to an end in respect
of the officials of both Corpbank and the central bank, in
particular at Bank Supervision, but Corpbank's financial death
is not a solution for its depositors. In his opinion, the Bank
Deposits Guarantee Act should be "overjumped", a way to achieve
the bank's financial recovery should be sought, and an option
should be found for all the depositors to receive their money.
According to Tsatsarov, the committed crimes cannot be an excuse
for causing losses to the depositors.

VI/DS