Authorities in Bulgaria have clamped down on the shady sale of international passports to foreigners from some elements of eastern Europe in exchange for bitcoin. Erring citizens of Bulgaria, Ukraine, Moldova, and Macedonia have been allegedly involved in the perpetration of such illegal activities.
Officials arrested
The citizenship issuance that was approved by Bulgarian officials has landed suspected officials in the police net. Among those who were apprehended by the Prosecutor’s General office are Bulgarian State Agency for Bulgarians’ matters abroad Peter Haralampiev, General Secretary Krasimir Tomov and the member of the agency Mark Stoyov.
Corroborating the apprehension of these officials, the Chief prosecutor of the State Ivan Geshev stated:
“Peter Haralampiev, Krasimir Tomov, and Mark Stoyov have been arrested for fraud with the issuance of Bulgarian passports to Ukrainian, Moldovan and Macedonian citizens.”
While the legal counsels of the accused officials have denied their clients’ involvement in the receipt of unauthorized payments, the public prosecutor General insists that they have proof to prove the method was facilitated with a digital asset as the means of exchange.
The scandal has put the government in a bad light however the Vice Prime Minister of Bulgaria Valeri Simeonov maintains that he has no intention of relinquishing power due to the level of corruption in the agency.
Apart from the involvement of government officials in this action which is punishable by the law, 20 people were recently detained in Bulgaria for selling the country’s passport to desperate citizens of Ukraine, Moldova, and Macedonia. The suspects allegedly received near $5.6 thousand for simply a document.
Leveraging the EU Concession
Bulgaria became a member state of the European Union (EU) in 2007. The EU passport provides citizens of different EU member states with the concession of traveling and living within the territories of the EU with little or no restriction.
The business of selling fake passports is being leveraged by many illegal immigrants who are keen on obtaining papers to enter EU countries. An underground syndicate in Greece with a branch in the Czech Republic was swooped upon by the europol in 2016. Five among its operators were Ukrainians while other leaders of the group were citizens of Sudan and Bangladesh.
These criminals specialized in the sale of fake Schengen visas, residence permits, and driver’s licenses. The fee for getting forged documents relied on the region of the individual involved. Immigrants from Africa, the middle East, and Asia may acquire their passports for £3,000 to £3,500 whereas European citizens could pay as much as £8,000.
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