Government Officials are Involved in Sales of Passport
A recent report made it known that security forces have been able to narrow down which countries these said foreigners are from. It was then reported that Ukraine, Moldova, and Macedonia seems to be the most prominent ones involved in the operation.
The government officials involved in this passport issuance scandal has so far been arrested. Among official arrested, is the Bulgarian State Agency for Bulgarians’ matters abroad Peter Haralampiev, General Secretary Krasimir Tomov and the member of the agency Mark Stoyov.
The legal counsel of this accused officials has however come forward to denied their clients’ involvement in the receipt of unauthorized payments.
In relation to their arrest, the Chief Prosecutor of the StateIvan Geshev issued a statement that:
“Peter Haralampiev, Krasimir Tomov, and Mark Stoyov have been arrested for fraud with the issuance of Bulgarian passports to Ukrainian, Moldovan and Macedonian citizens.”
A report has also made it known that the prosecutor general claims to have more than enough evidence to put these government officials away for good.
Bulgaria is an EU country
A report has it that since Bulgaria became a member state of the European Union (EU) in 2007, there has been reporting of people selling passport to desperate foreigners looking to flee to other European countries. This is because the Bulgarian passport provides the holder with the concession of travelling and living within the territories of the EU.
It was also reported that 20 suspects were recently detained in the country for engaging in the sales of the country’s passport to desperate citizens of Ukraine, Moldova, and Macedonia.