site.btaParliament Rejects Opposition Motion for Hearing on Alleged Healthcare Fraud Scheme

Parliament on Wednesday rejected a motion by the opposition Democratic Bulgaria for a plenary hearing on allegations that a State Agency for National Security (SANS) inspection into a suspected healthcare fraud scheme was obstructed last year. Speaking to reporters in Parliament and quoted by the party press office, Democratic Bulgaria co-chair Bozhidar Bozhanov said the power-holders were "trying to whitewash the facade rather than dismantle the schemes".

On July 7, Democratic Bulgaria moved for a hearing of SANS acting Chair Stancho Stanev, as well as SANS senior officials Plamen Stoyanov and Petko Gospodinov, over allegations that SANS officers inspecting pharmaceutical warehouses were ordered by their superiors to abandon the operation.

According to Bozhanov, the inspection concerned suspicions of a scheme involving the misappropriation of substantial public funds, including resources from the National Health Insurance Fund.

Bozhanov said Democratic Bulgaria would instead seek a hearing in the parliamentary committee overseeing the security services, after Progressive Bulgaria Floor Leader Petar Vitanov argued in the plenary chamber that the matter should be examined by a committee rather than the full house.

The opposition said it would ask the committee to hear former SANS officer Yasen Tokuschiev, who previously headed a unit dealing with the healthcare sector and recently made allegations about the case in an interview for the Off Air independent journalism platform .

Bozhanov criticized the ruling coalition for rejecting the hearing, comparing the case to a previous controversy in which a SANS operation targeting a cigarette smuggling depot was allegedly called off. He accused the government of failing to act decisively against corruption schemes and of relying on procedural tactics to delay scrutiny.

He also called on SANS to submit to Parliament all documents related to former National Health Insurance Fund deputy governor Momchil Mavrov and current deputy governor Asen Medzhidiev, so lawmakers could review information on their alleged involvement in the case.