The Sofia City Court is one step away from pronouncing a verdict in the landmark case against former investigator Petyo Petrov, popularly known as The Euro, BTA reports. The State Prosecution requested a severe punishment of "imprisonment" for a term of 14 years, as well as deprivation of the right to practice law for 17 years. The trial against Petrov is being held in absentia, as he remains missing and is wanted under a European Arrest Warrant.
Petrov is facing charges of document fraud on a particularly large scale, committed between October 11, 2019 and March 23, 2020. According to the prosecutor's office, by using false documents, he misappropriated gold coins and a bar worth a total of over 110,000 euros, owned by Yavor Zlatanov, as well as the sum of 550,000 euros, belonging to Yulia, Yavor and Proletina Zlatanov, without legal basis.
During the court hearing, the prosecutor read part of the indictment and pleaded that the defendant's guilt was fully proven. Lawyer Mincho Spasov, who is defending some of the victims in the case, also joined these requests. According to him, the trial has proven the words spoken by Yavor Zlatanov to the media years ago. Spasov emphasized that the evidence points to the existence of two criminal groups and called on the magistrates to take into account a serious aggravating circumstance: "Petyo Petrov used his influence in magistrate circles to commit the crime, thus compromising the entire magistracy."
For his part, the official defense attorney of the accused, lawyer Nikolay Manchev, contested the charges on the grounds that Petrov was not aware that he was committing a crime. According to the defense, the former investigator received the gold coins from his ex-wife Lyubena Pavlova.
The witness Orhan Hasanov, who is currently an investigator at the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office, also testified before the court. As a former investigating police officer, he recounted details about the searches in Iliya Zlatanov's house. According to him, before the operation, they were supposed to meet with prosecutor Dimitar Frantisek Petrov on "Cherkovna" street, but he did not show up. They were given directions by prosecutor Angel Kanev, who sent them in a company car to the address where Frantisek was already waiting for them.
Upon their arrival, the investigators found that the front door of the property had been broken before their arrival. Hasanov asked what exactly they were supposed to seize, to which Frantisek replied that they were looking for coins, without giving any further details.
The most intriguing part of the interrogation was related to specific instructions from the supervising prosecutor. After the initial inspection, Dimitar Frantisek Petrov explicitly asked Hasanov whether there was a cabinet with a mirror in the bedroom on the second floor behind the door. After receiving a negative answer, he ordered the policeman to return and check again "thoroughly". It was then that, under the clothes in one of the drawers, documents in a foreign language and yellow coins in an envelope were discovered. When asked how he knew about the existence of this hidden cabinet, František replied briefly that he had “operational information”.
The case continues with the expectation of the final decision of the court, which should close one of the most scandalous pages in the history of Bulgarian justice.