Petya Bankova gave detailed testimony about the role of Asen Vassilev and other politicians in the affair with customs, which she led until her arrest before April, reports “Filter” citing a source familiar with the investigation.
Bankova was released from court on Monday after more than 6 months behind bars. Three days earlier – on Thursday, she used her right to give explanations as a defendant for the first time.
Her willingness to cooperate with the investigation is one of the reasons she was released on bail. In addition, she suffers from a severe oncological disease, which so far has not been enough to release her. This is one of the few cases where the prosecution and the lawyers want the same thing – freedom on bail.
Petya Bankova was appointed director of the “Customs” Agency. by Asen Vassilev in March of this year. After a month, she was detained for developing DANS for the smuggling channels of Nikola Nikolov-Paskal. He provided himself with convenient customs and border guards by lobbying Bankova and Chief Secretary Zhivko Kotsev through Marin Dimitrov and his son Stefan. Already in the previous parliament, the temporary parliamentary committee investigated the participation of Asen Vasilev in the scheme, as well as whether black party coffers were not filled.
„Petya Bankova cannot do anything without permission from her superior then – Asen Vassilev. Until now, she was silent about him, but the arrest broke her, says the source of "Filter". In “We continue the change” also have such information. The party's fans are convinced that Bankova is being pressured to expose Vasilev as the person who made the decisions, and this has something to do with the upcoming elections. At the same time, while she was in custody, he forgot about her and did not publicly defend her as she expected.
The information that Bankova shared remains an investigative secret and will become clear when the substantive case begins. From the customs investigation with facts and contacts with the accused, the name of Boyko Rashkov emerged, who maintained close contacts with father and son Dimitrovi. He was even photographed with the younger man's poodle, as well as in the company of the two on his birthday. Unlike him, Asen Vasilev remained in the shadows, although he was the direct boss of the main figure Petya Bankova. She was charged with being a member of an organized crime group as well as coercion. The first offense is punished more severely. According to the sources of “Filter” it will fall away in the course of the investigation and only coercion will remain.
Stefan Dimitrov and his father Marin remain in custody over the affair. Nikola Nikolov-Pascal was arrested in Serbia and is expected to be extradited by Christmas if the Belgrade court agrees and the justice minister signs off on them.