site.btaSofia's Mladost Borough Mayor Charged with Bribery, Defenders See "a Setup"

Sofia, April 18 (BTA) - The Special Prosecution Office (SPO) charged the Mayor of the Mladost Borough in Sofia, Dessislava Ivancheva, with gross bribery, SPO chief Ivan Geshev told journalists on Wednesday, a day after Ivancheva was arrested.

Charges will also be pressed against her deputy and against an intermediary who is believed to have arranged the contact between the borough government leadership and a construction entrepreneur. The investigation has found that the entrepreneur was told to pay a bribe of 500,000 euro in order to have his documents processed by the borough administration. On conviction, Ivancheva may face between 10 and 30 years' imprisonment.

At the time of her arrest on Tuesday, the police found 56,000 euro in marked banknotes in her car, Geshev said. That was part of an initial bribe installment of 70,000 euro. The intermediary had the rest of the installment. Traces of the substance with which the banknotes were marked were found on the hands of Ivancheva and her deputy at the time of the arrest.

Geshev dismissed allegations that the suspects were not allowed to consult lawyers.

Peter Kurdjilov, public relations officer for the Mladost Borough government, told a BTA-hosted news conference that Ivancheva has adversely affected the interests of many large investors. "We believe this was a setup," Kurdjilov said.

Ivancheva was elected Mayor of the Mladost Borough as an independent candidate at the end of 2016, winning a surprise victory after spearheading protests of local people against over-development in Mladost.