Bozhkov: Goranov introduced me to Maria Filipova and asked me to help her because she didn’t understand anything

« I do not plead guilty on any of the charges. » With these words, Vasil Bozhkov began his explanations before the Sofia City Court on the so -called. A gambling case, which he has been charged with, along with 8 other business partners and former employees of the already closed State Gambling Committee (DC).

Bozhkov told the court that he only knew from all the defendants his wife and former partners Georgi Popov and Alexander Tamparov and Yoana Cholakova. The other four people who are charged with participating in an organized criminal group with him has never seen.

Bozhkov also explained that he had conversations with the brothers Boyan and Tsvetomir Naydenovi, whose signal began the investigation and who are the main witnesses in the case. According to him, the conversations began after the death of Stefan Naydenov, with whom they worked together at Eurofootball, because gambling companies began to lose money. Bozhkov did not want to take their business, but to find out what the losses were due to and wanted to receive his share. « I did not threaten them. I wanted to return what was stolen to me. These were many halls where they replaced their licenses. And I said we would deal with the court, » explained Vasil Bozhkov.

He told about the problem of licenses and conversations, which were led by the Maltese Gambling Committee, but without going into detail. He also briefly explained that he was in close friendship with Georgi Papazki and that they had seen each other frequently, but did not discuss the problematic relationship with Nayden.

« It’s a business. I didn’t share with anyone, » Bozhkov said. He explained that the former head of the State Gambling Committee Maria Filipova was represented to him by former Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov in his office, who told him that she was new, does not understand and knows, does not know the law, and Bozhkov should have helped her. Shortly thereafter, at another meeting in Filipova’s office, she asked him for BGN 10,000 a day, threatening to ruin him.

Filipova was also questioned at the beginning of the trial as a witness in the case, and is also a major witness on another charge and another case against Bozhkov – for attempting to rape. Bozhkov answered all the questions of both the court and the prosecutor’s office. As he told his point of view of the events of the case, the brothers Boyan and Tsvetomir Naydeni appeared in the hall, who were not usually present at the meetings, although they were summoned each time as private prosecutors in the process. They came in and tried to ask him questions, but Bozhkov refused to answer them. He answered the same questions already asked by the prosecutor’s office.

After they failed to receive answers, Naydenov decided that they no need to attend the hearing, and tried to break it again by leaving, but the court stopped them and returned them to the hall, stressing that they were disrespectful to the court with their inadequate behavior. Naydeni waited one of the breaks and left.

Some of the defendants said they would not give explanations because they had nothing to say on the accusations they declared absurd and untenable. Elena Dineva told the court that she did not know what to say in explanations, because she still cannot understand what the reason for spending 8 months in custody and for more than 5 years as an accused and defendant. Her name was not mentioned by witnesses during the process.

The supervising prosecutor in the case Angel Kanev explained that he wanted a hearing of some of the expertise, and insisted that much of the records be heard and watched – both from conversations and filmed on video cameras in DCA’s office offices. Conversation records have been downloaded as a text, but according to Kanev, over 60% of the conversations are stated that it is not understood what the interlocutors say. According to the prosecutor’s office, however, some of the replicas are understood, which is why there is a contradiction between the audio and the written protocols of the conversations recorded with special intelligence. Therefore, Kanev insists that they be heard and that the court can find the discrepancies for which the prosecution is not responsible, since the protocols were prepared by SANS and other services.

The defenders objected to this, saying that the sole purpose of listening to the records in the courtroom was to shake and delay the trial and the prosecutor’s office to enjoy media attention. « In this process, one party does not agree with itself and the evidence it has brought, and the other agrees with everything and wants only the case to end the court act, » said lawyer Georgi Gatev and lawyer Ina Lulcheva. They stated that it was from the allegations of prosecutor Kanev that the indictment had stepped on an official document with false content.

However, the court did not rule on the request, giving the prosecutor’s office up to 14 days before the next court hearing (scheduled for June 9) to specify exactly which experts want to be questioned and which records to be listened to in the hall.

At the end of today’s hearing, the court staff allowed Vasil Bozhkov to travel abroad.