site.btaMRF Co-Chair Charakov Complains of “Massive Audits” against MRF Expellees, Revenue Agency Is Outraged, Delyan Peevski Refers Matter to Prosecutors

One of the two chairpersons of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), Dzhevdet Chakarov, said Friday that the counter-corruption committee has launched “massive audits” of MRF MPs, excluding the other chairperson, Delyan Peevski, and his supporters. Chakarov, who was expelled by Peevski from the party’s parliamentary group along with 16 other members, was speaking at a news briefing in Parliament on Friday.

He also said that he has information about a meeting of the Finance Ministry, the counter-corruption committee and the National Revenue Agency (NRA), where the said audits were orchestrated.

NRA was outraged by the allegations and put out a statement denying that such a meeting took place or that it has ever acted under pressure, and accusing Chakarov of undermining their prestige.

Peevski sent an alert to the acting Prosecutor General to "express concern" and call for "establishing the facts and circumstances related to the possible unwarranted interaction and contacts between the respective authorities and politicians, as well as the creation of preconditions for the use of the institutions to attain individual political ambitions".

Peevski and a 22-strong circle of MPs around him have been in an open feud with MRF's Honorary Chair Ahmed Dogan since July 11. Dogan's camp in Parliament has since grown bigger than Peevski's even though the Dogan MPs have formally been expelled from the MRF group. Each party claims ownership of the MRF brand and a resolution is not in sight.