PP-DB is contacting the prosecutor’s office about Peevski, asking to check if there is a hotel in Dubai –

With a report to the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office, representatives of “We continue the change-Democratic Bulgaria” (PP-DB) demand that the prosecutor’s office check whether the leader of “DPS-New Beginning” Delyan Peevski owns a hotel in Dubai. The coalition is reporting to the prosecutor’s office for possible crimes of a general nature.

“They (the possible crimes – note.ed.) are related to the acquisition and actual possession by him or through proxies of a luxury hotel in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, which in media publications and video materials is claimed to be owned by the representative of the people. The hotel does not appear in Peevski’s public declarations under the Anti-Corruption and Confiscation of Illegally Acquired Assets Act, which raises serious doubts that it is acquired with proceeds of criminal origin and constitutes money laundering”, indicated by PP-DB.

The reason for the alert is material on the website Gospodari.com, which has a video from Dubai and states that, according to the authors of the footage, it is a hotel owned by the MP Delyan Peevski, who was sanctioned for corruption in Great Britain and the United States. The media itself explicitly notes that at the moment it cannot confirm with certainty whether this is actually his hotel. “However, the fact of the allegation being circulated and the presence of a specific filmed object in a particular neighborhood of Dubai constitute information about a possible crime disseminated through the media, and therefore – an independent legal ground under the Code of Criminal Procedure for investigation by the prosecution“, the coalition adds.

The authors of the report indicate that the publication and the video appear against the background of information about the permanent residence and active economic activity of Delyan Peevski in Dubai, including data on flights by private plane to and from Dubai, reflected in the media, as well as the presence of significant assets in the UAE related to him, his relatives and structures controlled by him.

“The report states that the journalistic investigations with the participation of BIRD.BG and OCCRP have already revealed a significant amount of property and corporate ties between Delyan Peevski, his close relatives and partners and assets in Dubai. They recall that the mother of Delyan Peevski – Irena Krasteva, was identified as the owner of a luxury villa in the prestigious Emirate Hills district in Dubai, acquired after 2016. Data were also published about the UAE-registered company TGI Middle East FZE, which, according to journalistic publications, is controlled by the circle around Peevski, and its assets as of 2017 include real estate worth approximately hundreds of millions of US dollars, without Delyan Peevski having publicly declared such ownership, and the ultimate ownership remains hidden due to registration in a free zone without a public commercial registry. It was also revealed that Delyan Peevski himself held a permanent residence permit in Dubai, which raises questions about the center of his life interests and the source of funds to finance that standard of living”reported by the press center of PP-DB.

The coalition reminds that Delyan Peevski has been sanctioned by the US Treasury Department under the global “Magnitsky” law as “an oligarch who regularly participated in corruption, using influence peddling and bribery to protect himself from public scrutiny and exercise control over key institutions and sectors in Bulgarian society”. In parallel, the UK has included him in its list under the Global Anti-Corruption Sanctions Regulations 2021, with the official statement of grounds stating that there are “reasonable grounds to suspect” that Peevski is responsible for or has been involved in serious corruption.

“These official actions of two democratic countries represent a serious international signal that there is a well-founded suspicion of substantial illegal income related to Delyan Peevski and his network of related persons and companies. And in the presence of such an internationally recognized corruption risk, the appearance of new data on the possible ownership of a luxury hotel in Dubai, undeclared in Bulgaria, substantiates a serious suspicion that it is about concealment and “laundering” of income of criminal origin through investing them in real estate”indicated by PP-DB.

The coalition believes that data is potentially available for the following crimes of a general nature: money laundering; declaration of false information or failure to submit a declaration; non-payment of taxes for undeclared income and property in particularly large amounts; corruption and influence peddling if the means to acquire and maintain such assets are found to be derived from giving or receiving bribes or from abuse of office and influence, as also described in the US and UK sanctions acts.

The authors of the report explicitly emphasize that journalistic publications and investigations are an independent legal reason for triggering an investigation by the prosecutor’s office and insist on a full and thorough investigation, including a request for legal assistance from the United Arab Emirates. They also refer to the practice of the European Court of Human Rights on the need for an effective and comprehensive investigation of serious and substantiated suspicions of organized crime and corruption.