site.btaUPDATED European Public Prosecutor's Office Indicts Petrich Mayor for Fraud Involving Construction of EU-Funded Museum

The European Public Prosecutor's Office Tuesday said in a press release that it had formally accused Petrich Mayor Dimitar Brachkov of his suspected fraudulent involvement in the construction of an EU-funded museum. 

The investigation concerns a project to convert an existing building into a museum, part of the Cultural Dipole in Cross-Border Area initiative. It is co-financed for EUR 646,857.59 by the European Regional Development Fund under the 2014-2020 INTERREG V-A Greece-Bulgaria Cooperation Programme and aims to showcase the shared cultural heritage of Bulgaria and Greece.

The evidence in the pre-trial proceedings shows that the Petrich Mayor concealed the fact that the building was demolished by a third person before the start of the reconstruction works and that the museum was built as an entirely new building. By hiding this information, the mayor violated his obligations under the partnership agreement between the Bulgarian and Greek municipalities. 

The case was reported by the European Anti-Fraud Office. 

All persons involved are presumed innocent until proven guilty by the competent Bulgarian courts of law, the press release added.

Later in the day, Petrich Municipality came out with a press release saying that "in light of the official information released by the European Public Prosecutor's Office in Bulgaria, we want to clarify that Petrich Municipality will provide necessary evidence to show that the history museum project was properly implemented and that the agreement with the Greek partner, the Municipality of Serres, was not violated. The technical and legal aspects of the implementation of the project are to be clarified with the help of witnesses."