„Is Veselin Denkov, owner of iconic Sofia restaurants, involved in organizing the protests from last summer?“ Why do anonymous witnesses interfere in this and jewelry from Dubai? What traces are the prosecution actually working on when he was detained the day before the biggest protest on September 2, 2020?”
Today, the Anti-Corruption Fund (ACF) published the second episode of its new investigation „Quick Control List: The Story of Veselin Denkov and Specialized Justice“. The story from the kitchen of the specialized justice and the SANS continues with a series of testimonies and recorded conversations, which shed more light on the reasons for Denkov’s detention.
The quick release of Veselin Denkov under house arrest in June 2021, a week after the ACF sent journalistic questions to some of the protagonists of the investigation, did not enter an official press release from the Prosecutor’s Office.
However, his detention in September 2020 was largely covered by the media with a friendly attitude towards the Prosecutor General and the government, with information that at that time could only come from investigators. All of these publications spoke of his detention in direct connection with the alleged financing of the protests, and not as part of an organized criminal group for usury, as he was charged with. During a search, jewelry from Denkov and Ivayla Bakalova, with whom he lives, was seized as a potential source of funding the protests.
However, the evidence of Denkov’s participation in the organization of the protests was mainly the testimony of anonymous witnesses, who did not take anything personally, but „heard that„. Furthermore, it is not clear what the crime of „protest funding“ could ultimately be. The evidence for Denkov’s participation in the organized criminal group for usury is similar.
Denkov’s detention in connection with the organization of the protests is also clear from a series of recorded conversations with Yane Yanev, a former adviser to the Prime Minister on fighting corruption. According to Yanev, there are two developments of SANS, on which special intelligence tools have been applied, and the arrests have been coordinated personally with the Prime Minister of our country in the particular period.
In the new episode of the investigation, stories are heard about Dubai connections and interesting details about Borislava Yovcheva, the main character in the plot with „the house in Barcelona„, whose exact location is currently unknown. According to Ivayla Bakalova’s testimony, Yovcheva appeared in Dubai and needed „assistance to settle down“ early last year.
The presented episode „Partially Legal“ is the second part of the investigation „Quick Checklist“: The Story of Veselin Denkov and Specialized Justice„.
