Two Criminal Acts, Committed Under the Conditions of an Ongoing Crime Pursuant to Art. 311, Par. 1 of the Criminal Procedure Code, Ascertained by Blagoevgrad Regional Prosecutor’s Office Following ACF Report

On 23 March 2018, the Anti-Corruption Fund (ACF) notified the Public Prosecutor’s office and the Public Financial Inspection Agency (PFIA) of a suspicion about falsified data, declared in the documentation of the company, which had been granted a public contract for “Implementation of Engineering – Design and Execution of Construction and Installation Works in Relation to the Realization of the National Program for Energy Efficiency of the Multi-familial Residential Buildings in the Territory of Blagoevgrad Municipality – 2nd Stage”. The public contract concerns the renovation of a “Multi-familial Residential Building – Block of Flats no. 38”, address: Alen Mak quarter, and is estimated to cost BGN 1,158,757.3, without VAT.

In its act the Regional Prosecutor’s Office – Blagoevgrad has confirmed ACF’s suspicion that the offer of the winner, Menkaura PLC, contains data regarding the drafting of an official document certifying false circumstances, with the purpose of being used as a proof of those circumstances. According to the Criminal Procedure Code, the perpetrator of this crime has to be punished with up to five years’ imprisonment.

Following the publication of ACF’s investigation into the matter, the mayor of Blagoevgrad, Atanas Kambitov, suspected a perceived malicious attack against himself and the Blagoevgrad Municipality. However, the Prosecutor’s Office has confirmed ACF’s suspicions, deciding that there are indications of a crime that has been committed.

The ordinance, via which the Prosecutor’s Office in Blagoevgrad transferred the investigation of the “Menkaura” case to the competence of the Sofia Regional Prosecutor’s Office, clearly states that the company’s manager Dimitar Atanasov has drafted two documents with false contents. Atanasov claims that Menkaura PLC was a subcontractor of the company “HUFU” (PLC) – another company he managed in the past – upon the construction of the kindergarten in Pleven, Bulgaria. The contract about the construction of the site, however, clearly indicates that “HUFU” PLC worked without subcontractors on that site.

In practice, we may draw the conclusion that Atanasov has falsified the background of the Menkaura company in order to be granted the public contract for the renovation in Blagoevgrad.