Sun, Nov 08 2009
The Sofia District Court ruled on December 1 2008 that Petar Drashkov, who was accused of deals with municipal property involving documents with falsified signatures of Sofia mayor Boiko Borissov, was innocent.
Borissov's signature appeared on a contract, supposedly signed by him in January 2008. The contract regulated the sale of a municipal land plot of 14 063 sq m in the borough of Strelbishte to Drashkov, owner of a company called Sida-S. Based on that contract Drashkov acquired a title deed with his name on it.
Drashkov was arrested on Thursday November 28 at the border with Serbia when he was trying to leave the country, local media reported.
According to the court's ruling on December 1, Drashkov did not know at any time that the documents used in the transaction were forged.
Also, the court ruled, Drashkov had warned investigators ahead of time of his trip to Germany and had made sure his attorney Yavor Notev was available. The court saw no reason to prolonge the arrest of Drashkov.
Prosecutors said the other suspect in the case, Ivelina Trifonova, feared for her life.
According to Bulgarian daily Dnevnik, the court documents showed that Drashkov had paid one million leva to Trifonova, thinking that she was a municipal clerk who helped him arrange document for the ownership of the plot.
According to the prosecution, similar schemes where the only real signature in the documents was that of Drashkov, had been used in other deals as well.
Drashkov's brother, former head of the State Agency for National Security Ivan Drashkov, appeared at the court where he made a statement to journalists before the court hearing took place, saying he believed his brother was innocent.
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