Criminal Group Involved in Fraudulent Investment Activity Disrupted

The authorities have disruoted an organised criminal group that operated call centres involved in fraudulent online investment schemes, causing substantial losses to citizens across the European Union. The large-scale operation took place on 11 December 2025 in Sofia under the direction of Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office.

The operation involved investigators from Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office and the National Investigation Service, officials from the State Agency for National Security (SANS), the Chief Directorate for Combatting Organised Crime (GDBOP), the General Directorate of National Police, as well as representatives from Spain’s Guardia Civil.

The group, comprising both Bulgarian and foreign nationals, had been running several call centres in Sofia since mid-2022. Through these centres, EU citizens were misled into investing funds in purportedly regulated financial instruments.

During the investigation, coordinated inspections, searches, and seizures were conducted, along with personal searches and witness interviews, aimed at halting the activities of networks involved in large-scale deception schemes and the illicit extraction of funds from victims abroad.

Authorities seized over 20 mobile phones, numerous SIM cards, more than 30 USB drives, personal computers, hard drives, notebooks containing handwritten notes, and lists of employees. Further discoveries included narcotics, 17 gold investment bars valued at approximately BGN 7,000 each, over BGN 45,000 in cash, and five hardware cryptocurrency wallets. One wallet contained crypto assets worth over USD 230,000, seized with the assistance of the Cybercrime Unit of the National Investigation Service.