Representatives of the music guild have sounded the alarm about an unheard of scandal in the collective management company “Profon”, Weekend writes.
The executive director Sofia Shtereva has formed a real drama, similar to the scam with the Hemus highway and withdrew the amount of BGN 1.2 million from the fees of singers and composers, and then transferred them to 3 of her personal bank accounts. and she collected about 750,000 leva in a personal safe.
The scheme shone at the beginning of last week, when a routine inspection revealed that half a million of the funds went to the director’s personal account, and the remaining 700 vouchers were locked directly in deposit boxes, again in the name of Shtereva.
The accused boss gave a relatively meaningful explanation that she had taken the drastic move, as since the autumn in our banking sector there are already negative interest rates on deposits worth over BGN 200,000, so the musicians are de facto losing money.
However, the lady was quietly removed from office while an internal investigation is underway. The reason – every transaction over BGN 40,000 must be authorized by the General Meeting, or at least by the Legal Department and the Distribution Department of Profon.
According to a Weekend source, a representative of the music guild, who learned about the case, also wanted the prosecutor’s office to be notified. However, the company refused to provide public information and conducted its own “internal investigation”.
A nomination of a new executive director of the company is forthcoming, after Shtereva holds the post for 6 and a half years. Prior to that, she worked as a producer at the bankrupt TV 7. Sofia Shtereva has a good reputation in the music sector, so it is puzzling why she resorted to such arbitrariness, which could cause her serious legal problems.
After the bankruptcy of KTB – over BGN 10 million of Profon and MusicAuthor sank in the bank.
The money in question has been accumulated in the two companies since 2000, and Virginia Records boss Sanya Armutlieva, who previously ran Profon, remains silent about what happened to them.
For more than 20 years, the company has been collecting the copyrights of performers and producers from radio, television, restaurants, hotels, etc.
Tens of millions enter Profon’s accounts annually, which should be transferred to copyright holders in a timely manner. For years, singers have complained that the distribution of funds is not very fair and there is no transparency.
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