Angel Hristov of ‘Galevi brothers’, wanted by Interpol, died after secretly returning to Bulgaria

Angel Hristov, a notorious Bulgarian underground figure, one of the two men known as the Galevi brothers, died on June 3.

Plamen Galev and Angel Hristov, commonly referred to as “Galevi Brothers” despite that they are not of kin, were sentenced for setting up, running and participating in a crime group engaged in racketeering and extortion. Angel Hristov was sentenced to five years of imprisonment and Plamen Galev was sentenced to seven. The sentences have been never served as the two managed to escape justice and went missing.

In 2012, Angel Hristov and Plamen Galev were circulated as wanted on an Interpol Red Notice.

Today, June 5, it became clear that the body of Angel Hristov was found in a funeral agency, but it is still unknown where his death occurred.

The death certificate was issued in the town of Dupnitsa, but the private hospital there denied that Angel Hristov was admitted.

The caretaker Minister of Interior said the only way for Hristov to enter the country was by land.

The mystery surrounding the re-entry into the country and the death of Angel Hristov of the Galevi Brothers is unraveling. Where his death occurred is the key question from today that has not been clearly answered. On the one hand, officials of the Dupnitsa municipality claim that the announcement of the death of one of the Galevi brothers was issued by a private hospital in the town, while on the other hand, the hospital denies that he was admitted there.

According to unofficial information, a blocked coronary artery was the cause of Angel Hristov's death. The time of the death coincides with the claims of the relatives. The mystery entangles around how the funeral of the man wanted by Interpol was prepared.

BNT has learned from sources that Angel Hristov's body was found on the premises of a funeral agency. The police received a signal about his death on Saturday afternoon. During a check, it was found that there were death documents issued for Angel Hristov, and the body was seized and sent for autopsy.

According to the official announcement of the Ministry of Interior, the signal was that the 53-year-old man had died at his home in the village of Resilovo, but according to claims by municipal officials, the documentation shows that he died in a medical facility. According to BNT sources, emergency medics from Dupnitsa received a call from the police around one o'clock in the morning. It concerned the pick-up of Hristov's body from the area of the cemetery park in Dupnitsa.

BNT contacted the funeral services company hired to arrange Hristov's still pending funeral. They refused to comment in front of the camera, but explained that they only realised that it was one of the Galevi brothers after the police intervened.

June 3rd, 8.00 am was recorded as the date and time in Angel Hristov's death certificate. The document was issued after an expired identity card and death notice were provided.

"The message was from “St. Ivan Rilski 2003" hospital that the death occurred at the hospital," explained Galina Palcheva, the official who issued the death certificate.

She claims that the procedure was carried out as in every death case and she did not get the impression that someone was in a hurry to finish. She noticed a discrepancy in the names of the documents submitted.

"The person's name was wrong and I returned the message asking to get the person's details corrected at the hospital. The hospital had got confused that his name was Angel Hristov Hristov," Galina Palcheva said.

"The GRAO (Civil Registration and Administrative Services General Directorate) has no data on whether a person is circulated as wanted on an Interpol red notice," said Dragostina Kovačka, head of the GRAO-Dupnitsa.

The hospital management, however, denied having admitted a patient with that name.

The police also officially confirmed that a death notice had been issued by a doctor from a hospital in Dupnitsa. However, the name of the hospital and the person who put the signature on the document were not reported. At the same time, another question continues to remain unanswered - how Angel Hristov entered the country.

"The only possibility is that he came to Bulgaria through land border. There are two ways - either under relaxed checks or to cross the border illegally, which is the second option," caretaker Minister of Interior, Ivan Demerdzhiev, said.

According to experts, it is possible that Hristov entered the country with forged documents. One version is that he returned to Bulgaria for family reasons.

"As some records of other people show, it is possible to have done so with a changed appearance. He has not been in Bulgaria for many years and he may have arrived with forged documents," said Krasimir Zanev, former director of the Ministry of Interior’s “Wanted Persons” department.

"We are checking all addresses related to the Galevi brothers, and any physical evidence to see if the other one (Plamen Galev) is on Bulgarian territory," the minister said.

"I think he is still outside Bulgaria. They have probably been ‘testing the water’ here, because Angel Hristov has the shorter sentence, and they were probably trying to see how the relevant authorities would react if he comes home," said Krassimir Zanev.

"The first question is how he got out of the country originally. I don't know why we are ignoring this question because the “chairman of the committee on his passage out of the country” in 2012 was the then Prime Minister Boyko Borissov," Rumen Petkov, former Minister of Interior said.

There are many versions about how Angel Hristov returned to Bulgaria, but what’s the truth - the ball is in the investigators' court.

***

Plamen Galev and Angel Hristov, commonly referred to as “Galevi Brothers”, were former officials of the Ministry of Interior.

In the 1990s, they used to work for the Specialised Counter-Terrorism Squad and the National Service for Combating Organised Crime. They left the police in 1998 and set up a number of businesses. Galevi Brothers were widely considered as the most successful businessmen in Dupnitsa, with a lot of influence and control over the economic and political life of the town.

In 2009, the two even ran in the general elections, unsuccessfully, but their participation in the campaign resulted in temporary suspension of proceedings against them because as MP nominees they enjoyed immunity from prosecution during parliamentary elections campaign. At the time they were in custody, charged with the crimes they were later convicted of.

In early 2009, Plamen Galev and Angel Hristov were charged with setting up an organised crime group involved in racketeering and extortion.

In 2010, the district court in Kyustendil acquitted them, but that decision was later (in 2011) reversed by Sofia Appellate Court and they were found guilty and sentenced.

At the beginning of May, 2012, the Supreme Court of Cassation upheld that decision. However, they fled the country before serving their sentences.

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