State Agency for National Security and General Directorate for Combating Organised Crime Raided Sungurlare Municipality over Alleged Public Procurement Abuses

Police officers entered the Sungurlare Municipality building and seized documents from the local administration.

According to information from BNT's News programme, numerous investigative actions are being carried out into public procurement contracts suspected of diverting huge sums from the budget.

The operation began at around 9:00 a.m. in the morning on October 20, when officers of the State Agency for National Security (SANS) and the General Directorate for Combating Organised Crime (GDCOC) entered the building of Sungurlare Municipality and seized documents from the local administration.

Investigators are examining how the contracts were awarded and carried out, the value of the agreements, the sums paid out, and whether the work actually performed corresponds to the funds disbursed. There is also evidence of activities reported fictitiously and of irregularities in the selection of contractors.

During the operation, the Mayor of Sungurlare, Eng. Dimitar Gavazov, was not in the municipal building, but was subsequently summoned for questioning at the local police station. After more than four hours he was led out of the building and taken to the Regional Directorate of the Ministry of the Interior in Burgas. According to unofficial information, the mayor has been detained, though it remains unclear whether charges will be brought against him.