Nikola Nikolov – Pascal was detained in Serbia. The information was also confirmed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs to Nova TV, which reported on a joint action between the Serbian and Bulgarian services.
A procedure for his extradition to Bulgaria is pending.
The name of Nikola Nikolov – Pascal became widely known during the arrest of the former head of the “Mitintsi” agency, Petya Bankova, who is still in custody on charges of being an organized criminal group for smuggling, money laundering and bribery. Father and son Marin and Stefan Dimitrovi were arrested together with her. The former Chief Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Zhivko Kotsev, was also involved in the accusations.
Nikola Nikolov – Pascal has so far not been accused or tried, although this year he was talked about as one of the biggest cigarette smugglers for at least two decades.
However, five months ago, at the height of the scandal, the head of DANS, Plamen Tonchev, described Pascal as a key factor in the production and smuggling of illegal cigarettes. It was established that he was working together with a major Turkish smuggler who had contacts along the Turkish border. GERB MP Delyan Dobrev also described him as a “mythical figure” who rose like a phoenix when GERB fell from power.
When Bankova and Dimitrovi were charged, Nikolov-Paskal was not found in Bulgaria.
A European warrant was issued for his arrest, although a prosecutor tried in court to stop it. It was significant that the prosecutor in question was Emil Petrov from the Sofia Appellate Prosecutor’s Office, who is the brother of the missing Petyo Petrov – Euroto.
In the whole scandal surrounding the arrest of the head of the Customs, father and son Dimitrov and the “resurrection” of the figure of Pascal, it was not so much the accusations and evidence of smuggling channels that became clear, but more popular were photos of Stefan Dimitrov, widely distributed mainly in yellow media and his poodle.
The scandal spilled over to vague accusations against former finance minister Asen Vassilev and former interior minister Boyko Rashkov (both from “We continue the change”), and a special temporary commission was created in the National Assembly to investigate Dimitrovi’s connections specifically with Asen Vassilev.
The commission ended with a not very clear report, but loud threats from “There is such a people” that he would be handed over to law enforcement.
Just a few days ago, the chairman of the PG of the DPS, Delyan Peevski, who now leads “DPS – A New Beginning” in the early elections, asked why the prosecutor’s office was not working on the case of the poodles.
news.bg
#Nikola #NikolovPaskal #detained #Serbia
