Bulgarian law enforcement authorities arrested a group of officials on suspicion that they were selling passports to Ukrainians and Moldovans for bitcoins.
As reported by The Mice Times of Asia resource, at the request of the Prosecutor General’s Office were detained the head of the State Agency for Bulgarian Affairs abroad, Peter Haralampiev and his assistant Marco Stojov. They are accused of fraud with issuing passports to citizens of Ukraine, Moldova and Macedonia.
Bulgarian Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev said:
Peter Haralampiev and Marco Stojov were arrested for fraud in issuing Bulgarian passports to citizens of Macedonia, Moldova, Ukraine. The police confirmed the existence of evidence that citizens of these countries bought passports for bitcoins.
Against the background of a growing scandal, the public called for the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister Valeri Simeonov, who may be associated with the detainees. However, the official said that he is not planning to resign yet.
The remaining details of the investigation have not been disclosed.
Cryptocurrencies are often used in various fraudulent schemes because of their decentralized structure. It is impossible to trace the movement of digital assets in their criminal use, and this is used by criminals from many countries. Yet, fiat is still used more often.
