Newly Elected Head of the Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office Emerges in ACF Investigations ProsecutionLeaks #3 and The Eight Dwarfs

With eight votes in favour and no objections, the Prosecutor’s College of the Supreme Judicial Council has elected Emilya Rusinova, the acting head of the Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office, as its head. 

Rusinova’s name emerged in ProsecutionLeaks #3, an investigation by the Anti-Corruption Fund Foundation (ACF) from March 2024. According to the testimony of an anonymous witness, she was spotted visiting the Eight Dwarfs restaurant from 2018 to 2020. Other implicated high-ranking officials include former Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev, acting Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov, and the former head of the now defunct Specialised Prosecutor’s Office Dimitar Frantishek Petrov. 

Allegedly, the officials met with influence trader Petyo Petrov. The meetings took place in a room on the first floor which was off-limits for restaurant staff and to which only Petrov and his then-wife Lyubena Petrova had access. It is further claimed that Sarafov and Rusinova emerged from the room, holding large paper envelopes which appeared to contain documents.

In an interview with ACF from May 2023, Lyubena Pavlova also mentioned that Rusinova had visited the Eight Dwarfs restaurant.

Pictures of Emilya Rusinova and Petyo Petrov at the entrance of the restaurant have also been published.

Rusinova’s name, together with those of several other people, was also mentioned in the report submitted to the ad-hoc parliamentary committee for investigating the influence within the judicial system of the networks of Martin Bojanov “The Notary” and Petyo Petrov “The Euro”.

The Inspectorate of the Supreme Judicial Council was privy to the information about Rusinova’s visits to the Eight Dwarfs restaurant. The inspectorate had initiated checks but then terminated them on the grounds that no information pointing to possible violations by Rusinova had been collected.