The head of the National Narcotics Agency, Rumen Spetsov, will most likely not have problems with the prosecutor’s office because of the duties of BGN 1.5 million to the budget of his former company “Granex Trader”. Responsibility for tax crimes can be sought, but by its new owner – the poor Danail Nikolov, who bought the company from Spetsov in 2016.
And at the moment the prosecutor’s office continues to file a case for avoiding payment of tax obligations, showed a Mediapool check. No charges have been filed against him. Even if that happens, they won’t be against Spetsov, who has been questioned only as a witness and assisted in the investigation.
There is no money
The scandal with the company sold by Spetsov broke out two years ago. Then it became known that the tax chief had sold his share in the company on April 13, 2016. This happened a few weeks after he was handed an audit report by the National Revenue Agency for liabilities of BGN 1.5 million.
The response of the National Revenue Agency and the Ministry of Finance was that Spetsov became an owner in Granex Trader after leaving the tax office in 2015 and sold his stake a year later. The established liabilities are for an old period (2014), when he had nothing to do with the company. It is curious that in the National Revenue Service until 2015 Spetsov worked precisely in the department for combating tax fraud (ROS).
To this day, the obligations of “Granex Trader” to the budget in the amount of BGN 1.5 million (with interest) have not been collected. Mediapool asked the taxman why. The answer is this:
“The company does not operate, no turnovers funds in bank accounts, employed persons, as well as does not own movable and immovable property/assets to serve as collateral, resp. forced debt collection“.
When asked whether any actions are being taken in this direction, the NRA replied that it periodically investigates whether there have been any changes in the debtor’s property status.
“At the moment, no property/assets have been identified against which enforcement should be directed” said the taxmen.
And the owner is gone
Except that “Granex Trader” has nothing, its owner is gone too. According to Mediapool, he was wanted but not found at the known addresses.
Two years ago, the scandal over Spetsov was blown up by GERB, who were not then in a “non-coalition” with “Continuing the Change”. Deputies Toma Bikov and Alexander Ivanov went to the Dragoman village of Yalbotina to show the “office” of the former company to the tax chief. It turned out to be a dilapidated adobe house, hidden in thickets and bushes.
Spetsov is an appointment of the Minister of Finance Asen Vassilev. His appointment to the post of head of the NRA was launched by him personally and during the previous administration of “Continuing the Change”. Vassilev has always downplayed the scandal surrounding Spetsov’s former company, likening it to “a series of theatrical productions”. The finance minister claims that Spetsov has a very good interaction with foreign services and has increased tax collection. In the last mandate, the finance minister boasted that the harassment of small businesses had stopped and the tax authorities had focused on large taxpayers.
