site.bta"It's Official: Fugitive Gambling Mogul Bozhkov Has Been Arrested in UAE" - Prosecutor General

Varna, on the Black Sea, February 2 (BTA) - Bulgaria's Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev said here on Sunday that the United Arab Emirates had officially confirmed that wanted gambling mogul Vassil Bozhkov and one more person had been detained in Emirati territory. Geshev explained that all documents needed to request Bozhkov's extradition will now be drawn up. The Prosecutor General broke the news during a news briefing after a police operation against conventional crime in the region of Varna.

Later in the day, the Bulgarian National Radio reported that the other wanted person whose detention in the UAE had been officially confirmed is Georgi Popov, holder of a nearly 85 per cent stake in the Levski Professional Football Club, whose principal sponsor is Bozhkov.

Earlier in the week, Bozhkov was charged with leading an organized crime group, coercion, extortion, attempted bribery of a public official, money laundering, etc., and was put on an Interpol wanted list. Geshev said that the businessman had evaded paying more than half a billion leva in gambling fees.

On Wednesday, Bozhkov's Nove Holding company issued a statement in which he accused official government institutions and powerholders' representatives of acting against him in coordination with, and in the private interest of, his former business partners Boyan and Tsvetomir Naidenov. Bozhkov told bTV in a telephone interview on Thursday morning that he was afraid to return to Bulgaria and feared for his life.

The news about Bozhkov's detention in the UAE comes a day after it transpired that a former chairman of the State Commission on Gambling (SCG), Ognemir Mitev, who is charged with malfeasance in office and participation in an organized crime group, was remanded in custody by the Specialized Criminal Court on a motion by the prosecuting magistracy.

Mitev was arrested in connection with the Specialized Prosecution Office's investigation into the gambling sector, as part of which charges were brought against Bozhkov and a few others.

BTA learnt from investigators on Saturday that incumbent SCG Chairman Alexander Georgiev had been brought in for questioning and, as supervising prosecutor Ventsislav Ferdinandov confirmed, had been released on 40,000 leva bail.

Speaking to journalists on Saturday, Geshev said that Boris Bekyarov, for whom a European arrest warrant had been issued as member of Bozhkov's organized crime group, had been arrested at Vienna Airport in Austria.
MY, LG