Anti-mafia officers from the Anti-Mafia Unit of the Bulgarian Anti-Mafia Unit have detained 11 people - leaders and participants in an organized criminal group for financial fraud and money laundering. The police actions were taken as part of a specialized operation conducted on January 13 in Sofia and Lom. It involved officers from the National Security Agency of Bulgaria and under the supervision of the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office.
A permanent association of people in various positions and functions has been revealed, operating since October 2022. The organizers of the criminal activity created a network of related companies and front persons who made telephone calls to randomly selected citizens with various investment proposals for activities in their favor on the global stock and crypto markets, and participation in startup companies. The activity was carried out through call centers, the location of which was changed periodically, and the target of the fraud was entirely Bulgarian citizens.
To potential clients, the technical assistants promised multiple profits from the invested funds and for a short period of time. The victims realized that they had been deceived only when they decided to withdraw the “accumulated funds“. For a certain period of time, they were misled that their money would be refunded after paying additional fees. Even after paying them, however, they were unable to return either the invested amounts or the additional earnings. The clients invested funds, believing that they trusted a commercial company holding the necessary license from the Financial Supervision Commission.
During the investigation, it was clarified that as a result of this activity, huge funds were generated, amounting to hundreds of thousands of leva according to initial data. After a series of bank transactions, most of the investments were withdrawn to the cashier by front persons. They were re-arranged into accounts of “fuse“ type companies, as well as used to purchase various types of cryptocurrencies and used to maintain a high standard of living.
During the operational-investigative actions, searches were carried out at 27 addresses and 7 vehicles. Mobile phones, laptops, electronic signatures, contracts, lists and documents were seized. Witnesses were questioned. Eleven people were detained for up to 24 hours in the operation carried out on Monday. Six of them - four men and two women - were charged. Four of the participants in the organized crime group have been given a permanent measure of detention “detention in custody“, and two have been given “house arrest“.
The two leaders of the criminal group have been criminally charged and have already been detained for the same crime.