The Specialized Prosecutor's Office received a Final Report № GC / 2018/0960 / A5 on the completed investigation of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) on suspicions of criminal violation of the financial interests of the European Union on projects in the Republic of Bulgaria related to the Development Program of Rural Areas 2014-2020 and the National support programme in the wine sector 2014-2018.
OLAF's investigation was conducted in parallel with the criminal proceedings of the Specialized Prosecutor's Office against Minyu Staykov and 13 other defendants. It started on October 11, 2018, after the service was informed by the Specialized Prosecutor's Office for established violations and crimes in the application and implementation of projects.
On October 25, 2019, the Specialized Prosecutor's Office completed the investigation on the criminal proceedings it monitored and filed an indictment in the Specialized Criminal Court against 14 Bulgarian citizens, including the defendant Minyu Staykov and 5 officials from the State Fund Agriculture.
The proceedings initiated in the Specialized Criminal Court are already at an advanced stage. More than half of the witnesses named by the Prosecution in the indictment were questioned, as well as a number of witnesses requested by the defendants' defense.
OLAF's final report completely overlaps with the facts and conclusions of the indictment of the Specialized Prosecutor's Office. The report explicitly notes that a number of irregularities and crimes have been identified, committed during the application and implementation of the projects indicated by the Prosecution, aimed at the personal benefit of a specific individual (defendant Minyu Staykov).
OLAF investigators explicitly point out that the beneficiaries created artificial conditions in order to circumvent the expenditure ceiling for the entire period of implementation of the two programs, thus one of the defendants and the legal entities controlled by him have criminally generated significant financial resources from the funds provided by the EU.
At the beginning of the next court hearing in the case, the Specialized Prosecutor's Office will present to the court the Final Report of OLAF and will request to be attached to the evidence in the case, in accordance with the rules of the Bulgarian Criminal Procedure Code.