site.btaBanker Tsvetan Vassilev Claims Delyan Peevski Racketeered Corpbank, His Associates

"A letter from [the exiled former banker and owner of the failed Corpbank] Tsvetan Vassilev has arrived at the headquarters of Yes, Bulgaria! with new facts and circumstances that speak of criminal acts committed by [Movement for Rights and Freedoms Chairman] Delyan Peevski, as far as I know they have been also sent to the National Assembly's clerk by Vassilev," Ivaylo Mirchev, a member of the leadership of Yes, Bulgaria!, said in an interview with bTV on Wednesday.

According to Mirchev, Vassilev's extensive and well-structured letter contains documents scanned by himself, which contain evidence of racketeering committed by Delyan Peevski, at least in Tsvetan Vassilev's words, towards Corpbank and Vassilev's associates.

"We will demand a hearing from the heads of the services, and more precisely from the head of the State Agency for National Security, about what actions have been taken with regard to Peevski, a hearing of the heads of the Bulgarian Development Bank about the loans granted to Peevski's companies. This information is enough for the Prosecutor General to demand Peevski's immunity, we will vote on it in the National Assembly, this could happen this week or next week," Mirchev said.  

"We expect the acting Prosecutor General to immediately, and on the basis of what has been collected and what is yet to be established, ask for the parliamentary immunity of Delyan Peevski," Mirchev said. He is convinced that lifting the immunity could happen by the time parliament goes into recess for the election campaign.

"Neutralising Peevski in the public and political sphere is very important for Bulgaria to start on the right path," Mirchev is adamant. Asked why the letter came to Yes, Bulgaria!, the politician said that his party is the political force that has had consistent actions against Peevski from the very beginning, and he has sent protesters in front of the party headquarters. According to him, now is the time to act, since other political forces have also realised that Peevski is "the big tumour of Bulgarian society".

"Let's now have the Prosecutor General ask for his immunity and when this request enters the plenary, let's see if there are enough MPs to vote for it. And this will answer the question whether the next government is possible, whether there are forces to adopt anti-corruption laws," said Ivaylo Mirchev.