The name of the former prime minister and current leader of GERB Boyko Borisov first appeared in an official document of the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) at the US Treasury Department. In its publication, the BIRD website cites the documentation in the case in which Vasil Bozhkov is challenging the sanctions imposed on him for corruption under the global "Magnitsky" law in a federal court. In this case, OFAC is the defendant, and Bozhkov is the plaintiff, writes "Sega".
The cited document is OFAC's response to Bozhkov's request for a court ruling. It describes the situation that led to the sanctions against the businessman.
"OFAC found, and the plaintiff admitted, that he paid money to former Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and former Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov in exchange for Borisov and Goranov favoring his business. This fully falls within the definition and common understanding of bribery. The plaintiff's actions were "offering" a "sum of money" in order to "persuading" these government officials "to act" in the "benefit" of the plaintiff," states the document, which was uploaded to the electronic file in the case on July 31 and quoted by Bird.bg.
The former prime minister reacted to the publication - angrily and with a two-day delay:
"I do not comment on parts of the document. I have commented on Bozhkov's lies hundreds of times so that you don't waste my time with this. I have sworn on my grandchildren everything I have said on this topic and I have said it in all the places where it needs to be said, so I treat with respect what the media has published specifically, but otherwise - an absolute lie", said Boyko Borisov in Primorsko at a meeting with the youth academy "New Minds".
The case was filed by Vasil Bozhkov on October 8, 2025 against OFAC and its director. It is being considered by the Federal Court for the District of Columbia and is related to the administrative control over the decision to sanction the businessman.
Bozhkov disputes the qualification of the payments as bribes. His thesis is that he was blackmailed by Borisov and Goranov and gave the money under pressure. However, OFAC maintains that paying officials in exchange for preferential treatment of certain business interests falls within the definition of bribery.
What is new in the document is the explicit mention of Boyko Borisov. When Washington imposed sanctions on Vasil Bozhkov in June 2021, the US Treasury Department reported that he had bribed government officials, including a “current political leader“, but did not publicly name him at the time.
Vladislav Goranov was subsequently also included in the US sanctions list. According to the US Treasury Department, as a minister he participated in a corruption scheme related to legislation in the gambling sector.
Boyko Borisov and Vladislav Goranov have repeatedly denied receiving money from Vasil Bozhkov. Borisov has stated that he did not take “a single penny“ from the businessman and that the only thing he received from him was a cigar.
What is written is an official position and finding of OFAC, presented in the specific legal proceedings. It is not a court decision, a verdict or a conclusion issued by the American court. In practice, this is the defensive thesis of the American service to keep Bozhkov on the "Magnitsky" list - that even if the thesis is accepted that Bozhkov gave the amounts, he gave the money to receive preferences and that this is not extortion, but a bribe. This is a document in a civil case, such as Bozhkov's case against OFAC for his removal from the "Magnitsky" list, and not in a criminal case.
Bozhkov was questioned by American representatives back in 2023. "Vasil Bozhkov was questioned 7 times in Dubai by US officials, including for former Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov", one of his lawyers, Stoyan Baumeyer, announced in an interview with bTV at the time.
The interrogations were part of attempts to have Vasil Bozhkov removed from the "Magnitsky" list.
"My client has been cooperating 100% with the American authorities for more than two years, and every time we had the opportunity, during interrogations, we asked when it would be convenient for him to return home, clear his name before the Bulgarian justice system, and end these cases once and for all here", said the defense attorney, who was hired in 2021 specifically for "Magnitsky". "From the first minute, Vasil Bozhkov said he would provide full cooperation. So far, we have presented over 25,000 pages of materials. The American authorities know more about Vasil Bozhkov than Vasil Bozhkov knows about himself. I guarantee you that. Personal materials, reports, companies, societies, translations, withdrawals, transfers, emails, records, everything,", the lawyer explained at the time.
When asked about which Bulgarian politicians Vasil Bozhkov had provided information to the US government authorities, the lawyer said: "In all of Vasil Bozhkov's testimonies, only Boyko Borisov and Vladislav Goranov appear. There are absolutely no other individuals."