The General Directorate of the “National Police”, which is supposed to be looking for criminals, sells information for a fee, gives it to those who should be wanted so that they can hide.
This was stated in the program “Hello, Bulgaria” on NOVA Zornitsa Kostova. She is a lawyer for two of the victims in the cases against Vasil Mihaylov, known by his nickname The Prosecutor's Son.
According to her, the people who were supposed to be looking for him and had the most up-to-date information about his location, helped him disappear. “What has been shared with me confidentially so far is that money was actually used. Not so much any sympathy for Mr. Mihaylov, but pure business”, she revealed.
According to her information, during his hiding, Vasil Mihaylov sought and received medical help after being injured in an arson attack. Although the police knew about this, he was not detained. “When handling fire, Mihaylov received some burns and visited the Pernik hospital with someone else's ID card”, specified lawyer Kostova. She also recalled another case from the past, when victims of his actions sought medical help, but their attempts were thwarted, and Mihaylov left the health facility with their outpatient lists.
Although the Ministry of Interior located and detained Mihaylov, the lawyer expressed serious pessimism regarding the development of the case in the prosecutor's office. As an example, Kostova pointed to the pre-trial proceedings for kidnapping and racketeering, initiated back in 2025. According to her, from one moment on, nothing happens in the case. “There are two reasons: either reluctance, or sheer laziness, or some other reason”, the lawyer suspects.
In a statement, the interior minister confirmed that the long process of identifying Mihaylov helped to understand who the people were who assisted and patronized him during this time. “There are interesting names there. There are people who have infiltrated the system at various levels. We have identified the key ones. They will be taken out of there, and several of them will be taken out of the system”, Ivan Demerdzhiev was categorical.
On the air of the program “Your Day” The allegations of lawyer Zornitsa Kostova, according to whom there is evidence of unregulated actions and corrupt practices in the Ministry of Interior system related to the search for the accused Vasil Mihaylov, were discussed. According to her, employees who were supposed to assist in his detention had information about his whereabouts and assisted in his hiding for a fee.
The topic provoked sharp comments in the studio from the former director of the National Investigation Service and former acting prosecutor general Boyko Naydenov, as well as the former rector of the Ministry of Interior Academy Milen Ivanov.
Boyko Naydenov described the allegations as “outrageous and scandalous“ if confirmed, since they concern “a high-ranking member of the Ministry of Interior system“. According to him, this is a possible serious breakthrough in the General Directorate of the “National Police“, which in principle should be a key structure in the fight against crime.
He stressed that the prosecutor's office is obliged to immediately begin an investigation if there is evidence of a crime, including against officials. At the same time, however, Naydenov stated that such cases are not entirely surprising, since corrupt practices exist in various units of the system.
The former prosecutor noted that the problem is not rooted only in pay, but in the lack of effective mechanisms for control and prevention. He also gave an example from international practice, emphasizing that corruption exists even in highly paid professions.
For his part, Assoc. Prof. Milen Ivanov emphasized that corruption is maintained by fear and a lack of effective internal control. According to him, there is a public secret about irregularities in the structures of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but there is often a lack of willingness to report and testify.
He pointed out that the internal control system is insufficient compared to the scale of the Ministry and that criminal prosecution in itself is not effective enough. According to him, the main emphasis should be on prevention, and not only on punishing violations that have already been committed.
Ivanov also proposed structural reform, including a clear and professional personnel system in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, independent of political influence, which would guarantee a predictable career and a lower risk of addiction.
We recall that on Saturday the prosecutor's son was sent to prison to serve an effective sentence of 1 year and 8 months. Other cases are still pending against him - one of them is already in the trial phase, and others - in the pre-trial phase.