Bulgarian Prosecutors Raid Offices of Gambling Commission

Bulgarian prosecutors have raided the offices of Gambling Commission and detained its head Alexander Georgiev for questioning.

This was the second time prosecutors raided the commission in the space of two weeks. A total of 18 employees of the commission were also taken in for questioning, but it was not clear if any of them were detained.

Separately, prosecutors raided the Sofia offices of Nove Holding, the company owned by controversial Bulgarian businessman Vassil Bozhkov. Nove Holding has diversified interests and owns several of Bulgaria’s largest bookmakers and lottery operators.

After the raid, prosecutors said that Bozhkov was facing seven separate charges, but gave no further details. Prosecutor-General Ivan Geshev said that Bozhkov was not in Bulgaria and would be the subject of a European arrest warrant.

Bozhkov gave several media interviews, saying that no one got in touch with him and was not aware of any charges against him. He said that he was prepared to present himself if subpoenaed.