site.btaWanted Criminal Angel Hristov Died of Heart Attack, Most Likely in Bulgaria

Wanted Criminal Angel Hristov Died of Heart Attack, Most Likely in Bulgaria
Wanted Criminal Angel Hristov Died of Heart Attack, Most Likely in Bulgaria
Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev (BTA photo)

An autopsy has established that Angel Hristov, a law enforcer who turned into a high-profile wanted criminal, died of a heart attack, said the Appellate Prosecution Office. The autopsy was ordered by the Kyustendil District Prosecution Office after Hristov turned up dead in his home village of Ressilovo in Western Bulgaria after being on the wanted list for 11 years.

Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev said that Angel Hristov, widely known as one of the Galev Brothers criminal duo (who were not related by blood despite the aliases), probably died in Bulgaria. However, there are facts that need to be established with more research, the Minister added.

Plamen Galev and Angel Hristov were put on the national wanted list in 2012 after they could not be found at their home addresses to serve their sentence of five years for organizing, running and participating in a crime group engaged in racketeering and extortion. Rumour was that they had fled the country on false IDs and settled in South Africa. In 2012, Interpol issued a Red Notice alert for Angel Hristov and Plamen Galev, who vanished after their five-year prison term for participating in a crime group was confirmed by a Bulgarian court of last instance.

"There is a lot of speculation about where Hristov entered Bulgaria," Demerdzhiev said. He noted that there is a perfectly legal possibility to enter the country without checking documents from neighbouring Greece - at a time when the checkpoints are congested. The entry was certainly not done by air, according to Demerdzhiev. He summarized that the two hypotheses are that he may have crossed into Bulgaria thanks to a lax check or that he crossed illegally through the "green border".

All circumstances are being checked and several proceedings have been initiated. All addresses related to the other Galev Brother, Plamen Galev, are also being checked, as well as material evidence whether or not this person is in Bulgaria, Demerdzhiev noted. 

The minister also pointed out that Hristov's relatives give conflicting information about when and how he entered the country.

According to the official who issued Angel Hristov's death certificate, the document was based on a medical certificate by a private hospital in Dupnitsa, bTV reported. The hospital has denied that and investigating authorities have yet to clarify the veracity of the claims made. In a statement to the Bulgarian National Radio, the hospital CEO, Eni Lefterov, claimed that Hristov had died at home and that his death certificate had been issued by a civil registrar at the Dupnitsa cemetery park, with the death announcement being brought by an employee of a funeral agency.

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By 04:21 on 19.03.2024 Today`s news

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