Murder, fraud, trafficking - over 40 Bulgarians wanted by Interpol for such crimes

murder fraud trafficking over bulgarians wanted interpol such crimes

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19:03, 07.06.2023

Murder, fraud, smuggling, trafficking - more than 43 Bulgarians are wanted by Interpol for such crimes. However, the information is not completely up to date. Some of those still on the wanted list are deceased or have already been detained.

Who is the Bulgarian Krasimir Kamenov – Kuro, murdered in Cape Town, South Africa?

For example, the first on the list is Krasimir Kamenov - Kuro, who was killed in South Africa. Also on the list is Angel Hristov, known as one of the Galevi brothers, who mysteriously returned to Bulgaria. His death also shrouded in mystery. Here are some of the names of the wanted persons.

The Crypto Queen

Ruzha Ignatova, popularly known as the Crypto Queen, is on Interpol's wanted list, but as a German citizen born in the Bulgarian city of Ruse. She is wanted for fraud and money laundering. Ignatova has been wanted since 2017 and was last seen boarding a plane from Bulgaria to Greece.

She is allegedly behind a fraudulent crypto currency scheme called OneCoin. The pyramid scheme began operating in 2014. In about 3 years, about 4 billion dollars entered Ignatova's accounts. The Bulgarian is currently on the FBI's Top 10 Most Wanted List and a $100,000 reward has been announced for information that could lead to her arrest.

Police Disrupted Crime Ring for Money Laundering Using OneCoin Cryptocurrency

"Galev Brother"

One of the so-called “Galevi brothers” - Angel Hristov - despite being declared internationally wanted, he mysteriously returned to the country and subsequently died. The other one - Plamen Galev - is still missing. Interpol's bulletin says he is wanted for leading a criminal organisation and for extortion.

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

Galev was arrested in 2008 after threatening a female journalist. A year later, he was convicted of extortion, causing bodily harm and coercion. Plamen Galev was then a candidate for MP and was released on a cash bail of BGN 50,000. He was acquitted in 2010. Just a year later, however, he was found guilty of organising a crime group and was sentenced to 7 years of imprisonment. In 2012, the SCC reduced the sentence to five years. However, before being imprisoned, Plamen Galev and Angel Hristov disappeared.

The detained

The wanted list still includes the photos and names of detainees. Among them is Evelyn Banev, known as Brendo, who was detained in 2021 in Ukraine. Bulgaria sent an extradition request at the time. Brendo turned out to be wanted by three countries for serving sentences already in force - Bulgaria, Romania and Italy.

The Prosecutor's Office issued an arrest warrant for Evelin Banev - Brendo

He was sentenced in Bulgaria to 6 years of imprisonment for participation in an organised crime group for money laundering from drug trafficking. Before he was detained in Kiev, Banev had been missing since 2016.

The list also includes the name of Ilian Todorov, convicted for the murder of Kiril Vuzharov and Vasil Alexandrov in front of the former disco "Solo".

He was detained in Uzbekistan 14 years after the double murder and 10 years after the final conviction to life imprisonment. The Prosecutor's office has moved forward the documents for his extradition, but the progress of the procedure is currently unclear.

Those convicted for the murder of Stoyan Baltov

Svetlozar Stoilov and Vili Georgiev - the two convicted for the murder of the student in pharmacy, Stoyan Baltov, in front of the “Amnesia” disco in Students’ city in Sofia on 5 December 2008. The sentence was 18 years of imprisonment for each of them. Until now there is no trace of Svetlozar Stoilov.

However, the other convicted, Vili Georgiev, was detained in 2018 in South Africa. The Bulgarian Prosecutor's office then sent a request to the authorities there, to seek his extradition.

A fugitive from prison

For five years there has been no sign of Radoslav Kolev, who is wanted on a red notice. In April 2018, Kolev and Vladimir Pelov escaped from Sofia prison. Radoslav's trail was lost, and in early June of that year, Pelov was shot dead in the center of Botevgrad.

Kolev had a long criminal record - convicted of assault and robbery, and after he got out of prison he killed a tax official. The man was then sentenced to 26 years of imprisonment, but managed to escape after a meticulously prepared plan in combination with Pelov. The escape case is mainly remembered for the fact that the fugitive chased one of the prison cleaners.

Wanted for extortion with nude photos

A woman and two brothers from the village of Pravda are wanted by Interpol for extortion with nude photos. The brothers are Gyurdzhan and Tezdzhan Angelov and Sevinç Niyazi. The investigation against them is based on reports of extortion of Azerbaijani citizens with nude videos.

The three allegedly registered fake profiles on social networks. They contacted people and provoked them to undress. They took pictures of the scenes and then asked for money not to distribute them. The three have been circulated as wanted on the Interpol's public red list.

What is Interpol?

The international criminal police organisation is widely known as Interpol. It co-ordinates international co-operation between police authorities in different countries. The main objective is to interact and assist the members of the organisation in the fight against crime - corruption, terrorism, drug trafficking, counterfeiting of money and bank cards, crimes against person and property, illegal arms trade, theft and illegal trade of works of art, computer crimes, etc.