List of Quick Control: The story of Veselin Denkov and the specialized justice system

Secret notes of the State Agency for National Security to the Prime Minister. Requests for Special intelligence means. Information from an undercover person. Anonymous witnesses in the Specialized Court. Connection with Dubai and (a bit of) Barcelona.

Was Veselin Denkov, owner of iconic Sofia restaurants, involved in organizing the protests from the last summer? Why do anonymous witnesses mention some jewelry from Dubai? What clues did the Prosecutor’s Office actually have when he was detained the day before the biggest protest on September 2, 2020?

The Anti-Corruption Fund (ACF) published its new investigation, “List of Quick Control: The story of Veselin Denkov and the Specialized Judiciary,” which includes eyewitness accounts and recordings of secret conversations with people with contacts in the judiciary.

Veselin Denkov is an owner of popular Sofia restaurants arrested in September 2020 on charges of participating in an organized criminal group for usury. The recordings of a series of conversations between Ivayla Bakalova, Veselin Denkov’s partner, and persons who were not particularly well-known until now reveal who are the “helpers” with influence in the judiciary.

“There is material for a serious investigation of corruption influences and practices in the judiciary in the recordings released in the film,” commented Andrey Yankulov, a former prosecutor and senior legal expert at the ACF.

The author of the film is the investigative journalist Nikolay Staykov.

You can watch the episode 1 “Talking to God” here

You can watch the episod 2 “Partially Legal” here

You can watch the complete interviews with Martin Bojanov and Emil Piskov here