site.btaUPDATED Bulgarian Authorities Break Up Financial Scams Operation Running as Part of Global Money Laundering Ring

The Bulgarian authorities reported on Monday that they have dismantled a segment of a global money laundering network operating through financial fraud. Four individuals are facing criminal charges—two of whom are Bulgarian citizens, and two are Ukrainian nationals who have acquired Bulgarian citizenship, according to a joint briefing by the Sofia District Prosecution Office and the General Directorate for Combating Organized Crime (GDCOC).

Sofia District Prosecutor Natalia Nikolova, said that the scheme involved establishing commercial companies by low-status individuals, who were recruited from Botevgrad, Sofia, and Lovech. After the companies were registered, bank accounts were opened and handed over to the Ukrainian citizens, who received money transfers from various parts of the European Union through bank fraud. Through phishing attacks, unsuspecting users were deceived into thinking they were paying pro forma invoices to suppliers with whom they often interacted, she noted.

These funds were immediately transferred to Middle Eastern countries, with approximately BGN 3 million passing through Bulgaria in this way.

One of the Ukrainian citizens is the leader of the group. Charges of money laundering and fraud will be brought against the four individuals, although the final destination of the money remains unknown, the district prosecutor added. One of the individuals has already been formally charged, while the Ukrainian citizens have been declared wanted, as they were not located on the territory of Bulgaria.

Deputy Director of the GDCOC, Senior Commissioner Emil Borisov, said the operation was targeting an organized crime group involved in financial fraud, VAT fraud, and money laundering. He said that the investigation into the organized crime group had been going on for over a year. 

Nikolova added that the victims of the fraud were people from Germany, England, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and other EU countries. They sent various amounts of money - some of them EUR 100 or EUR 200, but others sent as much as EUR 5,000. Some of the people were misled into believing that they were buying cryptocurrency, while others were told that they owed money to a certain company, she said. 

The prosecution and the GDCOC urged citizens to carefully check the accounts to which they send money transfers, not to confirm passwords and personal data, and not to open random links.