site.btaGen Kircho Kirov's Sentence on Embezzlement Charges Is Upheld

Sofia, July 27 (BTA) - The ten-year prison sentence of former head of the National Investigation Service (NIS), Gen. Kircho Kirov, has been upheld, the prosecution said.

Kirov was accused of embezzling over 5 million leva during a period of five years from 2007 to 2011 in complicity with a trusted subordinate identified as Dimiter Lidarev. The embezzled money amounted to 39 per cent of the specific costs of NIS which were not subject to checks by the Audit Office at that time.

In May 2016, the Military Appellate Court upheld a ten-year prison sentence for Gen. Kirov again on embezzlement charges, but the Supreme Court of Cassation returned the case to the court of previous instance over procedural violations.

On July 24 another panel of the Military Appellate Court confirmed the sentence in the part relevant to the guilt and the amount of the sentence.

A ban on taking a senior office was reduced from 15 to 13 years.

A civil claim by the NIS for the embezzled sum of 4,700,000 leva, complete with interest and costs in the case was also granted.

The sentence can be appealed before the Supreme Court of Cassation.