Money and jewelry worth half a million BGN seized during police operation targetting romance scams

Nearly half a million leva (BGN) in cash and jewelry were seized during an operation targetting romance scams. The police operation took place on April 8 in the regions of Razgrad, Shumen, and Haskovo and involved officers from the General Directorate "National Police" and regional police departments in Razgrad, Shumen, Haskovo, and Ruse.

The actions were taken in connection with the investigation of two pre-trial proceedings for romance fraud. In the course of the operation searches were carried out at addresses and cars in Razgrad, the village of Yasenovets, Isperih and Svilengrad.

Twelve men and women involved in the criminal activity were identified, seven of whom were detained for up to 24 hours under the Ministry of Interior's Law. The criminal activity included romance scams, selecting financial mules, and managing money flows, the General Directorate "National Police" said.

During the procedural actions in Razgrad and Haskovo regions, numerous mobile phones, SIM cards from Bulgarian, Macedonian, and Turkish operators, laptops, flash drives, documents related to money transfers, bank cards, nearly one kilogramme of gold jewelry worth around 122,000 BGN, and over 335,000 BGN in different currencies and other items related to the investigated criminal activity were found and seized.

As part of the operation, witnesses from the Shumen and Razgrad districts were identified and questioned. The materials will be reported to the District Prosecutor's Office in Razgrad, under the guidance of which the investigation into documenting and proving the criminal activity continues.

Photos by general directorate "National Police"