In response to a request for legal assistance from the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, a team of investigators from the Bulgarian National Investigation Service (NIS) is conducting searches and seizures in homes and offices in Sofia and the country, the press center of the Bulgarian prosecutor’s office announced. The operation is being carried out just a few days after Acting Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov visited the NIS with officers from the US FBI office in Sofia, Trud News reported.
The request is related to an investigation into corruption crimes in Ukraine committed during arms trade at inflated prices.
Numerous investigators from the NIS, employees of the General Directorate for Combating Arms and Special Operations and the Main Directorate for Gendarmerie, Special Operations and Combating Terrorism (GDZSOBT) are participating in the searches.
The actions in response to the request for legal assistance are being carried out under the supervision of the Supreme Cassation Prosecutor’s Office. At the request of the Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine, the National Investigation Agency entered the offices of SAGE CONSULTANTS AD. The company is one of the largest arms dealers in our country. It is owned by businessmen Gancho Hristov and Hristo Hristov. The signal from the authorities in Kiev is that the Bulgarian arms company has been circumventing sanctions against Russia. Little is known about the owners of SAGE CONSULTANTS AD. Hristo Hristov’s name became famous in 2019, when it was learned that he had bought a luxury property in Beverly Hills for 34.6 million dollars.
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