site.btaCourt Orders Arrest of Six Detained for Allegedly Spreading Counterfeit Banknotes

The Plovdiv District Court ordered the arrest of six people detained for allegedly putting counterfeit banknotes into circulation. On Thursday, a joint briefing of the Plovdiv District Prosecutor's Office and the Plovdiv Regional Directorate of the Ministry of Interior announced that an organized criminal group had been busted for putting counterfeit dollar and euro banknotes into circulation and for possessing counterfeit Bulgarian leva.

According to the court, there is a real danger of a crime being committed by Alin Alihanov, Yulian Atanasov, Ramazan Arif, Troyanka Atanasova, Milka Mitkova, and Georgi Borisov, if their detention is lifted. Of those detained, Borisov has a criminal record and has been convicted multiple times. Mitkova has been rehabilitated for possession of excise goods without the required permits. Atanasov has been convicted in Austria for theft. The others have clean criminal records.

Lawyer Krasimira Kutsurova told reporters that there are legal grounds to challenge the imposed preventive measure, but she will consult her client Alihanov first. She added: "My client knows only one of the detained persons and is seeing all the others in the courtroom for the first time. There is no conclusive evidence in the case that he was the organizer or that he participated in this criminal group. No counterfeit banknotes were found on him. Only three or four banknotes were found in the car in which he was detained and [which he was] driving. No counterfeit banknotes were found during searches and seizures at his home. He claims that the banknotes found in the car are not his, and that the car has been driven by several people."

The preventive measure imposed on the six detainees may be appealed before the Appellate Court in Plovdiv until July 31.