Sotir Tsatsarov
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sotir Tsatsarov | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 28 September 1966 |
| Profession | Jurist, Prosecutor |
Sotir Stefanov Tsatsarov (Bulgarian: Сотир Стефанов Цацаров) (born 28 September 1966) is a Bulgarian jurist who served as the chief prosecutor of Bulgaria from December 2012 until December 2019.[1] Tsatsarov allegedly owes his appointment to Delyan Peevski, a media mogul and member of Bulgaria's Parliament, and Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.[2] His time in office has been overshadowed by controversial investigations of political opposition leaders, famous businessmen, and independent media. Prominent Bulgarian jurists, including the heads of Bulgaria's main appellate courts, have asked for his resignation.[3]
Tsatsarov graduated from the Plovdiv Language School in his hometown of Plovdiv and was subsequently enrolled as a student at the juridical faculty of Sofia University.[4] On 20 December 2012, he was elected as the chief prosecutor of Bulgaria, with 18 "yes" votes, 3 in opposition and 3 abstaining.[5]
Role in Corporate Commercial Bank corporate raid
Background
Corporate Commercial Bank (Bulgarian: Корпоративна търговска банка АД), commonly called Corpbank, was a Bulgarian bank. The bank's majority shareholder was Bulgarian businessman Tzvetan Vassilev.[6]
Accusations against Vassilev
According to The Economist, at another point in time Tsatsarov ordered Bulgaria's national revenue agency to run at a tax audit on Vassilev, after a local activist group called "Protest Network" sent an alert to the Prosecutor General's office, making allegations about a connection between Vassilev, Peevski, and a Bulgarian newcomer politician named Barekov. In response to the “alert”, Tsatsarov ordered a magistrate to investigate all three.[7] The audit of Vassilev's taxes covered ten years of history and was completed in 2012. Peevski and Barekov were both “cleared”. Another tax audit was initiated in 2014, following the attack on the bank and embezzlement charges. It has yet to be completed.
Bank investigation follow-up
In September 2014, Tsatsarov gave an interview with the media saying, “The financial demise of the bank is no solution for the people who deposited their money there.” According to the Sofia Globe, "He went on to suggest that the existing legal provisions that guarantee deposits of up to 196 000 leva, or 100 000 euro, should be ‘overleapt’ and the bank should be bailed out in full."[8]
Kostinbrod illegal ballot case
In May 2013, approximately 350,000 fake, or illegal ballot papers, were found by the State Agency for National Security (DANS) in a raid ordered by Tsatsarov in the town of Kostinbrod. The extra ballots were found the day before parliamentary election in Bulgaria, and the Multiprint printing house facility where the ballots were discovered was coincidentally owned by the Municipal Councilor of the GERB party, Yordan Bonchev.[9] The scandal was believed to have influenced the results of the 2013 elections by allowing GERB party leader Boyko Borisov to manipulate the vote. Balkan Insight reported that “the case polarized public opinion, raising serious concerns about whether the election was fair.”[10]
Two years later, the court rejected all of the prosecutor's charges in the case.[10] Balkan Insight declared that the Kostinbrod scandal was "the investigation that has raised most concerns about Tsatsarov’s independence." The same article stated that "Bulgaria’s state prosecution has been involved in numerous controversial investigations, which have cast doubts that under the control of Sotir Tsatsarov, it is being used to serve political interests."[10]
Investigation into Hristo Biserov
Tsatsarov was involved in a November 2013 case in which Hristo Biserov, Deputy Parliament Speaker and senior leader of the Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms party (DPS), was accused of money laundering, tax crimes and document fraud.[11] Biserov was forced to step down because of the charges and a two-year investigation was launched. Prosecutors subsequently demanded a four-year jail term.
In April 2015, Chief Prosecutor Tsatsarov announced that Biserov would be indicted before the Orthodox Easter holidays, and he was a few days later.
Two years after the start of the ordeal, a Sofia City Court officially cleared Biserov in December 2015 after failing to find evidence to support any of the allegations, Reuters stated.[12]
Bogomil Manchev accusations
Bogomil Manchev was the CEO and main shareholder of Risk Engineering, characterized by the Sofia Globe as "one of the most powerful figures in the energy industry in Bulgaria" when DANS and the Interior Ministry conducted a raid of the company due to "suspected fraud in the energy sector."[13][14] Tsatsarov had mandated the investigation in a campaign to expose "the energy mafia."[15]
Immediately after learning news of the investigation, Manchev was amenable and agreed to cooperate with the investigation, However, he maintained the raid of his offices was a "farce" and was firm in his convictions that his business and "every penny he earned from it were legal."[16]
In October 2015 – similarly to the Biserov case – the investigation ended in failure for the prosecution due to the lack of evidence against Manchev.[15]