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Hotelier charged with financial fraud

Thu, Nov 01 2001 13:00 CET 37 Views
Hotelier Plamen Hrankov has been charged with fraud, an offence which, on conviction, carries a sentence of three to 12 year' imprisonment and a fine of 10,000 to 30,000 leva, said the press office of the Prosecutor General's Office on Monday.

The charge was brought on October 25 by the Special Investigation Service which is looking into a bank fraud committed by six Israelis. The hotelier was associated with the case, after the six Israelis were detained in early October. In the middle of the month, Hrankov was questioned as a witness in that case.

The Israelis were arrested on the night of October 2, when they tried to smuggle $165,000 into Greece across the Koulata border checkpoint. The six had stayed at the Castle Hotel Hrankov, and Hrankov had allowed them to use one of his offices, the Interior Ministry said. Hrankov is also suspected of helping the Israelis obtain a POS terminal from Bulbank, which is used for financial transactions with Visa and Mastercard credit cards owned by foreign nationals.

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