The mayor of Skutare – Stoyan Dobrev received a suspended sentence for stealing a bulldozer. The day before, he was found guilty and received one year in prison, with a three-year probation period, TrafficNews reported..
Dobrev was accused of stealing a bulldozer 12 years ago. The court saga lasted for almost two years, all the while pleading for innocence before the magistrates of the District Court.
How did the case come about?
On February 9, in the distant year 2012, a 12-ton bulldozer disappeared from a street in the Plovdiv village of Skutare. The truck was left there by its owner Atanas Ivanov, who parked it there with the consent of an acquaintance. Two months later, Atanas went to pick up the bulldozer and discovered that the huge machine had literally evaporated. Since the bulldozer was not moving, its disappearance could become a complete mystery. But this did not happen, as neighbors saw a huge crane load the bulldozer on platform and drives it away.
Since most people in Skutare know each other, the owner of the machine, Atanas Ivanov, quickly found out who the people who loaded the machine were. After several more conversations and inspections, he claims that he reached the “brain” of the operation, which to his surprise turned out to be not just anyone, but the mayor of the village, Stoyan Dobrev.
Atanasov collected all the documentation and submitted it to the prosecutor’s office together with a detailed complaint about what happened. The prosecutor’s office launched an investigation, which was later investigated.
And so 7 years later the case reached the court. An indictment has been filed against Stoyan Dobrev under Art. 195 para. 1. for theft. On October 15, 2019, a pretrial hearing was held, at which, despite the protests of Dobrev’s defense, the case was launched.
Two years after the trial began, the case ended with a conviction. The decision of the District Court comes after a long plea, which lasted until late yesterday.
The decision of the first instance will be appealed. Mayor Stoyan Dobrev will continue to serve as mayor, as his sentence has not entered into force.
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