site.btaEleven Tax Official Charged with Corruption

Sofia, March 29 (BTA) - The prosecuting magistracy has charged eleven officials of the National Revenue Agency with bribe-taking after a raid conducted on Tuesday, the head of the Specialized Prosecution Office, Ivan Gsehev, said. The raid was conducted by the Specialized Prosecution Office and the Directorate General for Organized Crime Control in Sofia, and in Rila and Blagoevgrad, Southwestern Bulgaria.

Geshev said that in addition to bribe taking, some of the officials will also be charged with money laundering.

The eleven officials are in detention. They include tax inspectors and heads of units. The amount of the bribes was from 500 to 5,000 leva. About 300,000 leva and pieces of expensive jewellery were found in the homes of the detainees.

The wrongdoing heads of units not only gave orders how to inspect merchants but also took items from facilities who could not pay up the asked amount of money.

Geshev's deputy, Dimiter Petrov, said that the prosecuting magistracy will demand permanent detention for some of the arrested officials.