Ivan Ivanov, the deputy head of Interior Ministry's chief directorate for combating organised crime (CDCOC), had no place in the Ministry and would be dismissed, Interior Minister Mihail Mikov told private broadcaster bTV on May 12 2008.

Currently, Ivanov is suspended following his arrest on March 17 2008 on charges of malfeasance in office and leaking sensitive information. Later on, information about the investigation against Ivanov leaked to the media.

Among these were phone recordings that showed Ivanov reporting to businessmen about police investigations against their firms. The scandal added to the row against Roumen Petkov who resigned from the post of interior minister on April 13 2008 and was replaced by Mikov in the Cabinet re-shuffle on April 25.

On April 30, CDCOC head Kiril Georgiev was demoted to deputy head, and Petar Vladimirov, the current head of CDCOC’s coordination of information and analyses section, was appointed in his place.

The changes came in the light of an April 25 US department of justice report which cited Bulgaria as an example of how international organised criminals corrupt and seek to corrupt public officials.

Bulgaria’s name featured as the example of “Threat 7: International organised criminals corrupt and seek to corrupt public officials in the United States and abroad”. The report cited the case of Ivanov as its main example of Bulgaria's organised crime situation.