Investigation into Boyko Borisov’s “Drawer” Photos Renewed by Sofia Appellate Prosecutor’s Office

The Sofia Appellate Prosecutor’s Office (SAP) ordered the investigation into the case of the photos of Boyko Borisov’s “ingots and bundles in the drawer” to be renewed. This was announced by the press center of the state prosecution on Monday.

“The criminal proceedings were terminated without exhausting all evidentiary sources, which led to the unclarification of issues related to the subject of proof,” claims the Sofia Appellate Prosecutor’s Office.

The case was returned to the Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office with specific instructions for further investigation.

At the end of last week, the city prosecutor’s office announced that it was closing the case because “there is no way to determine whether these banknotes and bars in the photos are real or just mock-ups, even if they match the numbers with existing ones.”

The Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office closed the case regarding the photos of the bars and bundles in the bedside table of Boyko Borisov’s bedroom on May 10 of this year. Only a day later, President Rumen Radev handed the first mandate to form a government to Maria Gabriel.

Many circumstances of the Bulgarian investigation remain unclear. One of the things that is known is that the Bulgarian prosecutor’s office received information from Germany that two of the 500-euro banknotes that can be seen in the photos from the “drawer” are real and were put on the market by the German Central Bank. This happened in 2007 and 2009, respectively. The German Central Bank has no other data on them.

The affair with the “drawer” exploded in 2020, when a number of Bulgarian media received emailed photos of Borisov’s bedroom in the “Boyana” residence. Some of them show a bedside table with a drawer full of wads of euros and gold bars, as well as a gun. In other photos, Boyko Borisov, who was Prime Minister at the time, can be seen sleeping in the room.

Borisov’s public comments about the photos and video from the room have so far been controversial. He said the photos were a setup, then claimed the photos were real, but the room was arranged in his absence to take the photos. He said that he knew who had taken the picture, pointing to a Bulgarian “Mata Hari”, another time he said that he did not know, etc.

As part of the investigation, the prosecutor’s office started checking the serial numbers of five 500-euro banknotes that can be seen in the photos. These coins are being investigated as they are the only ones with serial numbers visible.