site.btaCorpbank Chief Cashier Released from Custody

Sofia, August 18 (BTA) - Margarita Petrova, Chief Cashier of the ailing Corporate Commercial Bank (Corpbank), was released from custody after being remanded for more than a month, investigative prosecutor Ivan Geshev told journalists on Monday. Geshev said Petrova was released because she was no longer considered likely to commit another crime.

Petrova, along with Corpbank's Chief Accountant Maria Dimova, Deputy Chief Accountant Borislava Kyuchoukova and Management Board Chairman and Executive Director Orlin Roussev, have been charged with malfeasant embezzlement of 206 million leva from Corpbank between the end of 2011 and June 20, 2014. Corpbank suspended all operations on June 21, 2014, due to a lack of liquid assets and was placed under special supervision by the central bank to allow a thorough audit and possible restructuring.

Also on Monday, the Sofia City Investigation Service interviewed members of the Corpbank management in order to elaborate the charges against them. The interviewees included Executive Director Roussev and Chief Accountant Dimova. Dimova's lawyer Nikolai Rangelov said that the charges remain unchanged for now. He quoted Dimova as saying to the investigators that during part of the period for which she is accused of embezzlement she was on leave of absence and there was no way she could commit such a crime during that time.

Another defence lawyer, Yancho Yankov, said it does not make sense that Chief Cashier Petrova has been released while her helper, Deputy Chief Accountant Kyuchoukova, has remained in custody.

Interviewed by Bulgarian National Radio over the weekend, US applied economist Steve Hanke, known as the father of the currency peg in Bulgaria, said it would be appropriate to declare Corpbank bankrupt. Hanke said a bankruptcy would mean that the responsibility would be taken by the bank's owners and its debtors.

The US professor made the reservation that he was speaking in principle, having no knowledge of the auditors' findings. "I do not think that there is a systemic problem here. The bank should be allowed to go bankrupt. In the event of bankruptcy, the shadowy businesses will be driven out of the shadow," Hanke said, speaking through an interpreter. According to him, the Bulgarian central bank should handle the mess which it created instead of seeking help from Europe.