The owner of the University Specialized Hospital for Active Treatment in Obstetrics and Gynecology (USBALAG) "Selena" Nikolay Yordanov, accused of stealing 3.27 million leva, was released on bail of 100 thousand leva. This was decided by the Plovdiv District Court, BTA specified.
Yordanov was in close friendly relations with the doctor and former owner of the health facility Dr. Angel Stavrev, whose money he stole, the prosecutor's office announced at a briefing yesterday. The state prosecution requested a measure of "detention in custody".
According to the prosecutor's office, on December 8, Yordanov entered Dr. Stavrev's private office in the hospital, placed a guard in front of him and opened his personal safe. A commission consisting of three accountant consultants counted 1.8 million leva, which is equivalent to the available amounts in three types of currency - leva, euro and Swiss francs. Days before the theft, Yordanov made changes and removed the managers of two of the three companies that carry out their activities in the hospital. According to Dr. Stavrev's testimony and documents, the safe contained 3.27 million leva in various currencies, which were his personal funds.
A battle is underway for control of "Selena" by Dr. Stavrev and his entourage, Yordanov's defense attorney Yordan Davchev said in the courtroom. He added that an attempt was made with dubious documents to take away all shares from Yordanov's company, which owns 100 percent of the hospital's shares. With a contract for 20 thousand leva, they tried to acquire a business for 50 million leva, the accused told the court.
Yordanov and his lawyers stated in the courtroom that the actions to remove the managers of two of the three companies that carry out their activities in the hospital were legal and were taken after numerous signals of financial abuse in the hospital. The goal was to conduct an audit. During the financial audit, it was established that there were many salaries paid in huge amounts by hand to a group of individuals, which reached 350 thousand leva per month. The accused indicated that there were cash orders that regulated the movement of money between the cash register in Dr. Stavrev's office and the one in the accounting department. All this has been provided to the General Directorate of the "National Police", Yordanov also said.
Attorney Davchev emphasized that there is no document according to which the cash register is the property of Dr. Stavrev and it belongs to the company until proven otherwise. According to the lawyer, there is a dispute over ownership and an attempt is being made to steal the funds. If Dr. Stavrev proves that these funds are his, they will be returned to him immediately, the lawyer said.
If Nikolay Yordanov is found guilty, the envisaged punishment is imprisonment from 3 to 15 years and confiscation of part of the property.