Prosecutor and Prison Employee Arrested for Alleged Involvement in Crime Group

A prosecutor from the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Pleven, Dimitar Zahariev, and a prison employee from the General Directorate "Execution of Penalties" were detained on 6^th of June. They were alleged in involvement in the organized crime group of Kamen Balbuzanov, nicknamed Kukata.

Zahariev's arrest took place at the Court of Justice in Sofia, where he was due to appear in a lawsuit. The other participant in the crime group was detained in the city of Pleven.

The two detainees have been subject of an investigation since the end of last year, when the group of Kamen Balbuzanov – Kukata (the hook) was disrupted, the administrative head of the Specialized Prosecutor's Office Ivan Geshev said. Prosecutor Dimitar Zahariev was accused of providing logistics for Balbuzanov's crime group. He faces another charge - for blackmailing a local doctor. The second detainee also faces another charge, for a death threat.

According to Bulgaria’s Chief Prosecutor, Sotir Tsatsarov, this was a threat to a main witness and was said in front of almost all employees of the respective unit, publicly and with a sense of total impunity.

Geshev said that the Prosecutor's Office and the Specialized Prosecutor's Office would do everything possible to not allow persons supposed to work and defend the interests of the state, in essence to threaten witnesses and support the activities of organized crime groups.

According to the prosecutor's office, there is enough evidence to press charges against the two. They were detained for 72 hours in the detention facility. The state prosecution is about to file a request for a restraint measure.