SOFIA: Bulgarian prosecutors said yesterday they have charged the main owner of troubled Corporate Commercial Bank (Corpbank), Tsvetan Vassilev, with embezzlement and an international warrant has been issued for his arrest.
The bank was hit by a run on deposits in June that led to Bulgaria’s biggest banking crisis since the 1990s. Corpbank has since remained shut and angry customers are demanding access to their remaining deposits.
Vassilev was accused of asking two employees at the lender to withdraw 206m levs ($140m) from the bank between 2011-2014.
Prosecutors said these funds were then transferred to another company owned by Vassilev, one of Bulgaria’s most prominent businessmen, who is currently living outside Bulgaria but whose exact whereabouts are unknown.
The charge against him is the latest twist in the banking crisis that has put renewed scrutiny on the investment climate and quality of banking supervision in Bulgaria, one of the most corrupt countries in the European Union.
Clients unnerved by reports of alleged shady deals involving Vassilev withdrew more than a fifth of deposits in a week-long bank run, forcing the central bank to shut down its operations.
Vassilev, who was locked in a public feud with a rival at the time of the run, has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and said the run was a plot hatched by his competitors. “Vassilev is indicted in absentia because he is out of Bulgaria, with residence unknown,” prosecutors said in a statement on Tuesday, adding they had charged him on July 28.
Reuters
