How Taleva (not) investigates Sarafov

• In the midst of the Apartmentgate scandal in 2019, Borislav Sarafov was temporarily suspended by the then Chief Inspector. Prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov. Nothing followed.
• Now it is understood that in 2017 Sarafov and his wife bought a property of their son in their name, without this being declared either in the first incomplete or in his corrected declaration for 2017.
• Years later, Acting Prosecutor General Sarafov would claim that he had “neither financial nor moral participation” in the property deals of his relatives!
• However, the documents incriminate him in a lie. Sarafov has sold an apartment and transferred the money to the account of his ex-wife – Evgenia Sarafova. “She actually uses them, to pay extra for the apartment in the Edelweiss complex – says Sarafov 10 days after he stated that he has “neither financial nor moral participation“
• There is no explanation for the origin of BGN 75,000. of the family in 2017-2019, when Sarafov did not declare the property and thus committed a document crime.
• Prosecutor Taleva remained completely silent about the house in the village of Prolesha, for which she had initiated pre-trial proceedings, but then terminated them.
• Taleva has investigated the “salaries” from “Union Ivkoni” and “Elidis” of Sarafov’s son and ex-wife, revealed by BOETS, but does not see the dependencies.

In May 2023, shortly before the outbreak of the Geshev-Sarafov war, BIRD.BG published an in-depth investigation about the inexplicable well-being of Borislav Sarafov and his family. After the beginning of hostilities between them, this investigation became the reason for the newly created figure of the ad-hoc prosecutor to be referred to the investigation of the Prosecutor General. This was the first signal of its kind in the national judicial history. Its practical development and fate illustrated how untenable the mechanism in question really is. Moreover, it turned out to be secretive. Ad-hoc prosecutor Daniela Taleva stubbornly refuses to provide the public, as well as the whistleblowers, with the termination decrees.

The BIRD investigation team put an end to this outrage and obtained access to the documents through a court order. And they reveal extremely scandalous facts for which Taleva has turned a blind eye.

Sarafov’s Decrees on Laundering

On the basis of Art. 205 of the Criminal Procedure Code, when there is sufficient evidence of a crime committed, the documents must be immediately sent to the prosecutor’s office for an objective check to be conducted. When the data comes out of a prosecutor’s inspection, the materials must be separated and pre-trial proceedings must be initiated.This was not done either in 2019 by the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office or in 2023 by Taleva.

Sarafov: “I have not participated either financially or morally”

On 22.12.2023, shortly before the state closed its shutters for the Christmas holidays, Acting Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov crosses the corridors in the Courthouse from his own office to office number 4 fl. 5 in order to be questioned by ad hoc prosecutor Daniela Taleva on the first signal against him, regarding the property deals of his relatives. During the interrogation, he stated that he had nothing to do with them:

“I have always only looked at my own work and have stayed completely away from the family business and any transactions and purchases of properties and assets. Не съм се бъркал, а не ме е и интересувало.” – Sarafov claims.

And he immediately refutes himself in his next answers, in which he shows an enviable awareness of the construction undertakings and property acquisitions of his relatives:

“My son is developing a business in the field of construction entrepreneurship – he uses the inherited land and takes out a company loan to build on it. It also takes a lot of time to work on design and urban planning procedures… His mother, I know from my son that he helps in these endeavors… With regard to the sites purchased in the Edelweiss complex, as far as I know, they were purchased “off-plan” before the building was built, and in 2020 and 2022 the deals were concluded.”

When asked whether he personally had any participation (financial or otherwise) in the acquisition of real estate by Bobby and Evgenia Sarafov in the period 2020 – 2023, Sarafov is categorical:

“I have absolutely no participation in the acquisition of these properties, neither financially nor morally. He hasn’t even asked me for advice .”Ten days later, on 11.01.2024, Sarafov was again interrogated and it became clear that these statements of his were a lie:Can you indicate how you acquired apartment No. 79, located in the city of Sofia Sofia, Krasno Selo district… and what is the reason for the amount from the sale of the said property to be transferred to the account of your ex-wife – Evgenia Tsvetkova Sarafova – asks Prosecutor Taleva.Sarafov explains himself as follows: I have acquired this property with a donation from my parents. The reason for the transfer of the money from the sale of this apartment to my wife’s account is that before we officially documented our divorce, we had agreed that all the properties that I had as my property would remain with my first-born son Bobby Borislav Sarafov. My ex-wife insisted that this should not be formalized with a donation, as it can be disputed, but done with sales. Since Evgenia has no other children to leave an inheritance to, I decided that she could use the money from the said apartment to buy a home in which she could live independently and it would be in the same building in which my son, Bobby Sarafov, had purchased an apartment, because her property would be inherited by our common son. This is the reason why the money from the sale of the said apartment was transferred to her account and she actually used it to pay for the apartment in the Edelweiss complex in the district. “Boyana”.

Obviously, this explanation differs from the previous one “I have no participation either financially or morally“, but Taleva is not impressed, just as she was not impressed by the facts established during the investigation into the role of Borislav Sarafov in the scandal “The Eight Dwarfs“. There, several witnesses also accused him of lying about his claim that he had been only once to the famous restaurant of the Petyo the Euro and was lured to go by the former chief. Prosecutor Ivan Geshev.

As far as all these lies about the properties and the “Eight Dwarfs” were told by Sarafov during explanations within the framework of an inspection, and not during the initiation of pre-trial proceedings, the problem of the only candidate for Prosecutor General is only moral and there is no way he can be held responsible for perjury. But from the way these inspections were conducted and crushed, it becomes clear that holding Acting Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov accountable is not at all part of the intentions of ad hoc prosecutor Daniela Taleva from his neighboring cabinet.

Purchases of properties for a million, sales for half

The Sarafovs’ real estate transactions for the period 2017-2023 are impressive in terms of quantity and amounts. They give rise to two inspections, both of which were initiated after revelations by investigative journalists from Bivol and BIRD, and not by the SJC Inspectorate, which checks the property declarations of magistrates.

The real estate transactions of the Sarafovs for the period 2017 – 2022 by dates:

The legend to the table is important. The deals revealed in the framework of the “Apartmentgate” scandal are shown in green, for which there was a tax audit and a prosecutor’s inspection by the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office, which ended with the conclusion that everything was accurate and there were no discrepancies. In blue are the new deals in the period 2019 – 2022, which again became clear from our journalistic investigation and they became the reason for the inspection by Taleva. In red are the transactions for which there are reasonable doubts that they are at unrealistically low prices.

2017-2019: Unexplained BGN 75,000 and document crime of Sarafov

Let’s start with a step back. Back in the spring of 2019, in the midst of the scandal “Apartmentgate“, Bivol revealed how Sarafov’s son, 21-year-old Bobby, bought two apartments and a garage for BGN 540,000. По това време Боби е все още студент в Англия, като и до ден-днешен не става явно какво и къде точно е следвал той на Острова. Не става ясно също така и как Сарафов-старши е платил това следване, доколкото ценовото равнище във Великобритания както тогава, така и сега, е изключително високо.

At the height of “Apartmentgate” in 2019, Sarafov was temporarily suspended from Tsatsarov, but only until the NRA and the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office in two instances washed him. The competent authorities “checked” the Sarafovs and validated their income, expenses and luxury apartments. The inspection of the NRA never saw the light of day, while the decree of the Special Prosecutor’s Office is superficial and tendentious.

Here is what was established in case 2050/2019 of the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office with supervising prosecutor Antoaneta Sofronieva, which is based on the audit of the NRA: – In the audited period /01.01.2015 – 31.12.2018/ Bobi Borislavov Sarafov did not receive income from employment relations. – He has received numerous loans and donations from individuals. – In addition to the apartments, he also acquired a house in the village of Prolesha for BGN 44,000.The donations, loans and expenses of young Bobby, in summary:

It should be noted here that both the house in Prolesha and Atelier No. 31 in the Edelweiss complex are suspiciously cheap. Similar properties in the same complex and at the same time are sold at the same price, but in euros. The house in the village of Prolesha costs at least 4 times more. These indications of simulated transactions are not explained in the decree of the Special Prosecutor’s Office. for which a separate investigation is needed.The difference of nearly BGN 340 thousand is also noticeable. between Bobby’s income and the expenses he incurred. This is where the family comes to the rescue. Bobby’s aunt donated him a panel in Lyulin, which he sold in 2019 quite profitably for BGN 132,966. And for Atelier No. 3, mom and dad are involved with all their available financial resources.

The studio with a terrace and a garage was paid by Borislav and Evgenia Sarafov as follows – a deposit of BGN 21,427 from the father, the rest for the apartment BGN 199,822 from the mother and another BGN 41,075 again from the mother for the garage.However, there is a problem when comparing the data with the property declared by Sarafov to the ISJC.

• Borislav Sarafov donated 101,000 BGN to his son plus another 21,427 BGN. deposit for the second apartment. His declaration for 2017 shows BGN 86,000. from the sale of an apartment and another BGN 9,584, on deposit. The difference is BGN 30,000.
• Evgenia Sarafova gave a total of BGN 240,897 for the studio and the garage as she declared on deposit BGN 114,532 originating “savings, husband loan, sale of real estate” and another EUR 41,754 or BGN 81,500, for a total of BGN 196,032. The difference is BGN 44,865.
• Thus, the cumulative inexplicable property of the Sarafovs after all the sales of properties and loans becomes nearly BGN 75 thousand.
• Prosecutor Sofronieva has not bothered to look for answers to all this. She accepts that the income from the salaries of Prosecutor Borislav Sarafov for the last 8 years, which amount to BGN 534,755.90. are a sufficient explanation for all disturbing facts.

But among other things, it is understood from Sofronieva’s decree that Borislav Sarafov did not declare to the ISJC that he had become a buyer-assignor of real estate. Този факт липсва в the first incomplete in his amended declaration for 2017.“On 07.08.2018, an agreement was concluded between Evgenia Tsvetkova Sarafova, Bobby Borislavov Sarafov and Andriana Ivanova Stancheva – a representative of Edelweiss-3 Boyana EOOD to replace the buyer-assignor Evgenia Tsvetkova Sarafova with a new buyer-assignor Borislav Bobi Sarafov,” her decree reads.

It turns out that Sarafov did not declare that in 2018 he transferred a property under construction to his son.Yes, we are talking about the same Borislav Sarafov, who years later would claim that he had “neither financial nor moral participation” in these property deals of his relatives.To summarize – the special prosecutor Sofronieva not only did not look for some mysterious 75 thousand levs. of the family, but she has literally turned a blind eye to a document crime of her boss – deputy. Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov. In our humble opinion, here is most likely a corpus delicti under Art. 313, para. 1 and para. 2 of the Penal Code.

Subsequently, Taleva conveniently steps on the conclusions of Prok. Sofronieva (confirmed by Prof. Ilian Tochev from the Social Assistance Agency) in order to wash the Sarafovs and for their future acquisitions. However, this is even more problematic insofar as prosecutorial decrees refusing to initiate criminal proceedings do not have the force of res judicata (CPA). In other words, they represent a legal zero, which, however, Taleva conveniently uses as a crutch.

2020-2023: New purchases, huge salaries and construction worth millions

At the end of 2019, Sarafov divorced with his wife Evgenia, but she kept his surname. Before the divorce, she sold an apartment in Krasno Selo for BGN 205,362. A sharp and inexplicable increase in the wealth of his ex-wife followed.

Less than a month after the divorce, Evgenia Sarafova acquired a plot of land in Dragalevtsi for BGN 117,000. And after another month and a half, he bought an atelier of 136.7 sq.m. and a garage of 23.5 sq.m. with their adjoining parts of a yard in the same complex “Edelweiss” where Bobby is. For them, she pays a total of BGN 290,000.

The question arises where these BGN 407,000 come from. for real estate, as such money is not reflected in Sarafov’s declaration to the ISJC for 2019, when he was still married to Evgenia. From the explanations of the candidate for Prosecutor General, it is clear that he nobly transferred BGN 205,000 to his wife. from the sale of the apartment in Krasno Selo.

There are BGN 202,000 left, which Sarafova has to explain somehow, because her ex-husband has not described them in his declaration.

But that’s not all. The following year, Evgenia counted BGN 24,502. for plots near the village of Prolesha, and Bobby in his personal capacity and through his company counts another BGN 35,000. for neighboring properties. The price of BGN 5. per square meter is suspiciously low. We are talking about a regulated plot of land intended for low-rise construction. Plots in the area of Prolesha are currently offered for about 50 euros per sq.m. The properties were sold by a company to Stanimir Zharkov, whose son sold the villa in Prolesha earlier to Bobi Sarafov.

In addition, Bobby began large-scale construction in Sofia of a property that was donated to him by his grandmother Veneta, and she received it as a gift from Bobby’s “uncle” – Svetlin Tanchev, a former MP from GERB and first cousin of Borislav Sarafov, which in turn uses free of charge car provided to him by the Tanchevi family company “Elidis“.

The mother Evgenia Sarafova also started construction, who managed to raise on the terrain in Dragalevtsi luxury house with over 700 sq.m. Total built-up area and yard of 750 sq.m. and sell it in early 2024 for BGN 3.7 million.

For the most part, these new facts about the increased wealth of the Sarafovs were presented in a publication by BIRD and Bivol, and Veselin Ivanov (PR of the Prosecutor General) forwarded the publication to Taleva – and this became the reason for the opening of the first probe under the new mechanism for investigation of the Prosecutor General and his deputies. The case is with the landmark Number 1/2023 of the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office.

Investigation “with 200” by email

First of all, the lightning speed with which the proc. Taleva has conducted and completed the “investigation”. The personal check of Taleva began on 19.12.2023, shortly after she actually took office. The refusal decree is dated 25.01.2024. That is, everything ends in record time, which on top of that includes the holidays around Christmas and New Year. Within this period, Taleva managed to personally interrogate the following persons: Borislav Sarafov, his son, his ex-wife Evgenia, Stanimir Zharkov, Svetlin Tanchev and Veselin Ivanov.

Upon closer reading, however, it becomes clear that these “interrogations” are in fact explanations taken epistolary. I.e. Taleva sends an e-mail to the person in question with questions, after which the person returns answers, also by e-mail. However, this is a rather vicious and bewildering practice. A fundamental principle in criminal law is the principle of immediacy – i.e. the investigating body, whoever it is, should personally and immediately perceive the answers to the questions it asks – from the person to whom it asks them. Including taking into account body language. It is quite possible, for example, that the written answers from persons such as Zharkov, Tanchev and others are moderately written by expert lawyers, and not by them personally. This is a procedural violation of the category of essential. In other words, Taleva has taken the information in a way that makes it as easy as possible for the persons involved, and herself – saving her the need to deal with them face-to-face. For comparison, the author of these lines was harassed for months by a prosecutor from Chepelare, who insisted on personally interrogating him not because he was suspected of a crime, but because he had made revelations about illegal logging.

As we have already indicated, the new purchases and large-scale construction ventures of the Sarafovs for the period 2020-2023 are difficult to tie with the previous large spending on Bobby’s apartments. Of course, Taleva is facilitated by the equilibrium of the NRA and the Special Prosecutor’s Office, with which Sarafov was laundered for the period 2017-2019. Like her predecessor, Prosecutor Taleva also does not see the missing BGN 75,000. from the accounts of Borislav and Evgenia Sarafov while they were still spouses. He also turned a blind eye to the false data in three declarations of Borislav Sarafov for 2017 and 2018.

However, there is a problem with proving income for the new property acquisitions, as far as Borislav Sarafov’s salary is already a ragged patron, the money from the sale of another home (BGN 205,000) is not enough, and the money available or in the bank deposits of the Sarafovs has not been declared.

Evgenia must explain at least what is the origin of a solid amount of BGN 225,000 spent on property acquisitions. And Sarafov must explain why they have not been declared.

We have already mentioned that the ex-wife is building a luxury building on the plot in Dragalevtsi, in which, according to the most conservative estimates, at least one million levs have been invested, and there is no evidence of a mortgage on the property and the building itself.

Bobby, on the other hand, has to explain how much money he uses to build a huge building with 17 apartments on the plot donated by his grandmother.

What are these salaries?!

These problems with proving income have been eliminated with two feints – the huge salaries of Evgenia and Bobby and a loan of BGN 4 million. withdrawn from Bobby’s company. Both cases are highly dubious and problematic.

It turns out that in addition to large-scale construction entrepreneurship, Bobby and Evgenia Sarafov also work as employees. Each of them received more than BGN 15,000. per month, and the two were kept on payroll in two companies – ” Union Ivkoni” and “Elidis““. A curious detail is that in 2022, Evgenia’s monthly salary from Elidis was “only” BGN 6 thousand, and in 2023 it jumps to BGN 10 thousand. As much as the salary of Bobby from “Elidis” – during the entire period under review. “Ivkoni” pays them a little more modestly – BGN 5,500 each. per month to each for the entire period under review.

The scandalous salaries were revealed from BOETS, after which Free Europe confirmed that Taleva knew about them. It is confirmed in black and white by her decree, which we obtained in court.

It makes a strong and tangible impression that Taleva perceives as one hundred percent at face value the “evidence” of the high labor incomes of Bobby Sarafov and his mother Evgenia. We remind you that Bobby is a freshly graduated student. There is no information about what exactly he works in “Union Ivkoni” and “Elidis”. Salaries in the range of BGN 10,000 per month are generally due to senior or semi-senior management in a private company, especially before the serious inflation of recent years.

There is neither life nor any other logic to assume that young Bobby can be directly appointed to a managerial position from the student bench. This is obvious in itself and does not need to be proven, but obviously not for the ad-hoc prosecutor Taleva. It has not been investigated in any way whether the money was actually transferred, nor to which bank accounts it was transferred. The job description of young Bobby and his mother has not been requested and checked in order to see what they actually worked. And did they work at all?!

Finally, it is not clear how it is possible to be on a full-time salary in two companies at the same time, while developing a large, large-scale construction activity. Bobby and Evgenia are either cyborgs or have found a way to work 24 hours a day. Something that labor law prohibits anyway.

Taleva answered all these questions in an interview for the government’s favorite newspaper “24 hours” with the statement that “receiving a salary is not a crime”. This is a demonstration that the highest prosecutor of the republic at the moment is not aware of the judicial practice in Europe, which gives numerous examples of those in power (for example, Marine Le Pen) convicted precisely for the salaries of their cronies, after it was established that they worked fictitiously, and “receiving a salary” is not a legal income, but an illegal benefit disguised in the form of a “salary”.

But even if these salaries are real, Taleva does not say a word about the lack of some BGN 300 thousand. in Sarafov’s declarations: BGN 75 thousand. for the period 2017-2019 and 225 thousand for 2020-2022.

BGN 4 million from TIM’s bank

Apart from this, Taleva has not investigated at all the question of how it is that CCB Bank, owned by the notorious “timadji”, has granted a loan of BGN 4 million to the company “Xora Residence” of the young Bobby Sarafov, against collateral of only BGN 885,400. This is the value of the property received as a donation from his grandmother.

With this loan, the young Sarafov managed to quickly build a luxury building with 17 apartments, with common areas including a gym, jacuzzis and “heated beds”. Maybe even with multi-temperature heating.

Taleva devoted a lot of effort to clarifying that this property was actually a donation to Bobby Sarafov at the will of his grandmother Veneta, but for complex family reasons, it first became the property of her nephew, and he returned it back to her so that she could finally donate it to her grandson.

No such efforts have been made to clarify the loan of BGN 4 million and the other suspicious transactions at simulated prices. There is not a single line of correspondence from Taleva to CCB, nor a lifting of bank secrecy, nor even a minimal examination of whether the legal norms regulating banking activity have been complied with.

There is not a word in Taleva’s decree on the construction of Evgenia Sarafova in Dragalevtsi, which apparently did not happen with breakfast money either. There was no bank mortgage for this property, which excludes the hypothesis of a loan. Then where does the money come from?

In the investigation BIRD and Bivol pointed out another disturbing circumstance. The apartments in the Edelweiss complex for mother and son Sarafov are from a company in which The ultimate owner was Mukesh Vallabji, arrested in the Seychelles, accused of embezzlement on a large scale, money laundering and terrorism. In Bulgaria, in the case of Mukesh Vallabji, a prosecutor’s file No. 11287/2022 has been opened according to the inventory of the Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office. The investigation is for money laundering and transfers of large sums (millions) to accounts in Bulgaria. DANS is also engaged. From the time of Ivan Geshev until now, under Acting Prosecutor General Sarafov, the investigation has been “in pieces”. However, there is still a lot of time until the expiration of the absolute statute of limitations.

Bulgarian partners of Vallabdzhi are Hristo Chepishev, entrepreneur and founder of the SIC group. The drug lord is also involved in Mukesh’s case Christoforos Amanatidis – Taki, as well as the brother of GERB MP and Deputy Speaker of Parliament Rositsa Kirova – Konstantin Varbanov. Copies of the couple’s passports were found on Mukesh’s computer. After highlighting these facts, Varbanov filed a “slap in the face” (SLAPP) case against the BIRD team.

All this was rejected by ad hoc prosecutor Taleva with the brief explanation that the Sarafovs were not related to the sellers. You see.

Achilles’ heel “Prolesha”

Daniela Taleva also remains completely silent about the house in the village of Prolesha, which was established in the previous inspection of the Special Prosecutor’s Office. Our investigation revealed that this house with a total built-up area of 297 sq.m. was donated by Stanimir Zharkov to his son, who immediately sold it for the symbolic price of BGN 44,000 to Bobby Sarafov.

The relationship is not accidental. Years ago, Borislav Sarafov was an investigator in a high-profile case for serious hooliganism, torture and extortion against Stanimir Zharkov, who, however, escaped with a suspended sentence.

Years later, the businessman from Bozhurishte became a municipal councilor from GERB and literally liked the house and several other appetizing properties of Sarafov’s son.

The case there is particularly sensitive because there are numerous witnesses that Borislav Sarafov personally used the house as a suburban villa, but he did not declare this fact. Our team visited the village and recorded the statements of local people and neighbors, who confirmed that Sarafov often stayed there.

The fact that Sarafov used the house as a villa is also claimed by a person close to Sarafov, who gave a detailed interview for our media at his own request. In addition, there are witnesses to the close relationship between Sarafov and Zharkov, which they deny in the superficial interrogations conducted by Taleva.

This house in Prolesha is the subject of a separate alert to Taleva registered with number 1/2024 according to the inventory of the Prosecutor’s Office, on which pre-trial proceedings were even initiated, unlike the usual prosecutor’s checks on other cases. It is under Art. 313 of the Penal Code because of the data in the signal that Sarafov had used someone else’s real estate, but had not declared it.

We should note the obvious double standard of the ad-hoc prosecutor. In the case of the large-scale construction of Sarafovi near Vitosha, it did not initiate criminal proceedings, and in the second case (concerning the villa in Prolesha) it decided to initiate such.

Of course, this file was also terminated, and the initiator of the signal, Atanas Tchobanov from BIRD, unsuccessfully tried to obtain the decree for termination under the order of a polite reminder, and then under the Access to Public Information Act.

Ad-hoc prosecutor Daniela Taleva refused to provide it, arguing that the sender of the signal did not have the quality of a victim. In fact, Taleva uses a legal “loophole” that the prosecutor’s office systematically abuses. Namely – pre-trial proceedings are initiated, but no one is constituted on it. Subsequently, the DP was terminated and so there was no one to appeal to the court. Unlike refusals to form SOEs, in this case the whistleblower does not have the right to complain. Too convenient!

One thing is certain, however – this refusal to provide the decree has also already been appealed in court, and you will get acquainted with the results in a future publication on the topic. The case is to be scheduled in court.

Lead photo: Daniela Taleva and Borislav Sarafov against the background of the Courthouse and part of the Decree under Pr.e. No. 1/2023 of the Supreme Cassation Prosecutor’s Office. Collage: BIRD.BG

Сарафов бил редовно в “Осемте Джуджета”. Взели 500 хиляди лева за да обвинят Къро

Материалът How Taleva (not) investigates Sarafov е публикуван за пръв път на BIRD.