Employees of the "Economic Police" uncovered a fraud scheme at an annual technical inspection point (ATI) in the Stochna Gara area in Sofia. A technical device for manipulating the results of the inspections and over 100 fake protocols were seized. Abuse of personal data in the protocols was established, the Ministry of Interior announced.
The special operation was conducted on August 8 based on operational information received about the fraud. Representatives of the "Automobile Administration" Executive Agency also participated in it (IAAA, the former DAI - editor's note).
During the operation, a pipeline was discovered connecting the gas analyzer at the station with a probe with a hose at the other end, which entered the neighboring office through a hidden hole in the wall. There, the hose was hooked up to a gas cylinder with a reducing valve and two manometers. The valve on the reducing valve can be used to adjust the amount of gas supplied from the cylinder, which, mixed with the gases from the car, leads to dilution or saturation of the mixture. In this way, the aim is to meet the environmental standards of the respective vehicle category.
The Ministry of Interior explains that according to regulatory requirements, the inspection must be carried out with the gas analyzer probe placed in the exhaust of the vehicle being inspected without other devices connected in the path of the gases that could lead to a change in their concentration.
The gas analyzer is used to measure harmful emissions in gasoline vehicles for their admissibility when passing an annual technical inspection. A passenger car in a given category must meet certain requirements for the presence of carbon monoxide in the gases. The inclusion of an additional system to the main one directly affects the concentration of the measured gases and thus the results are manipulated and the information submitted to the "Automobile Administration" does not correspond to the actually measured values.
Pre-trial proceedings have been initiated in the case under Art. 311 of the Criminal Code. The gas cylinder and numerous incriminating protocols were seized.
During the inspection, it was also established that the data of the same person were entered in the protocols for the annual inspection of more than 100 vehicles. The 51-year-old owner of the station was questioned as a witness.
The investigation into the case continues.