Deputy Minister of Transport Taken to Court

Sofia City Prosecutor's Office filed an indictment in Sofia District Court against Angel Popov, Deputy Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications, for fraud committed by him under Art. 209, para 1 of the Criminal Code.

Popov is accused that on unspecified date in August, 2012 in Sofia, in order to acquire for himself a benefit of EUR 8,000, he deceived the owner of a transport company that against the aforementioned amount, officials from the Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and Communications, will arrange for the company he manages to receive additional four EKMT/CEMT permits for facilitated international freight transport.

In the course of the investigation, it was found that by 2012, Popov had no official or personal relation to the working group at the Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and Communications, which was authorized to distribute ECMT/CEMT transport authorizations.

However, he created the false impression in the transport company manager that he could influence the decision of this collective authority by handing out various sums to one of its members named by Popov.

In fact, it was objectively impossible, as the persons he was talking about were not part of this working group at all.

If found guilty, he may face one to six years of imprisonment.