site.btaSerbia Confirms Tsvetan Vassilev's Detention, Places Him under House Arrest

ESD 11:30:00 17-09-2014
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105 HOME AFFAIRS - TSVETAN VASSILEV - ARREST - CONFIRMED

Serbia Confirms Tsvetan Vassilev's
Detention, Places Him under
House Arrest


Sofia, September 17 (BTA) - Serbia Wednesday confirmed the
detention of Corpbank majority owner Tsvetan Vassilev.

"Bulgarian national Tsvetan Vassilev, who is wanted for the
purpose of arrest and extradition, was detained by the Serbian
judicial authorities at 9:00 a.m. local time on September 16,"
Bulgaria's prosecution service said in a press release on
Wednesday, citing a fax from the International Operational
Cooperation Directorate of the Bulgarian Interior Ministry to
the Supreme Cassation Prosecution Office.

Vassilev appeared before the Serbian court at 12:00 noon, and
after a hearing was barred from leaving his present address. He
was ordered to surrender his passport and to present himself to
the Serbian authorities on every working day between 9:00 a.m.
and 3:00 p.m., the fax specified.

According to Serbian media reports, Vassilev turned himself in
to the Belgrade police on Tuesday. The Serbian authorities were
formally notified of the banker's arrest warrant on September
15, the local media wrote.

Vassilev's extradition to Bulgaria will take between 18 and 40
days, Prosecutor Ivan Geshev, who supervises the Corpbank
investigation, told journalists on Tuesday. On Thursday, the
Sofia Appellate Court will have to render a final ruling on an
appeal by the banker's defence against the Bulgarian prosecution
service's motion for his detention in custody for 72 hours.

Corpbank (Bulgaria's fourth largest lender) suspended all
operations on June 21, 2014 after a run by depositors left it
illiquid and on the same day it was placed by the central bank
under special supervision for a maximum of six months to allow a
thorough audit and possible restructuring. Vassilev, whose
Sofia-based Bromak EOOD is the majority shareholder in Corpbank
with a 50.7 per cent stake, is charged with aiding and abetting
senior executives of the bank to embezzle nearly 206 million
leva from Corpbank between December 2011 and June 2014. Vassilev
was on Interpol's Red Notice Wanted List. LN/LG
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