Vasil Bozhkov Plans to Return to Bulgaria

Bulgarian prosecutors call Vasil Bozhkov the nation's most dangerous man. Now the fugitive gambling tycoon is planning to return home to exonerate himself by toppling the government.

Once ranked among eastern Europe's richest people, the 63-year-old has been in a self-imposed exile in Dubai since January. He's awaiting a decision on extradition after Bulgaria charged him with 18 crimes, including attempted bribery and four cases of murder-for-hire. Bozhkov denies wrongdoing and accuses Prime Minister Boyko Borissov's government of extortion.

"I'm planning to enter politics," Bozhkov, 63, said by phone from Dubai, where he was briefly detained and then released. "We need a new political project. Power must be seized from Borissov."

The chance of success doesn't look great for a man who has been the target of the authorities in Bulgaria. Yet his fighting talk comes at an awkward time for a leader grappling with the fallout from coronavirus and whose third term has been mired in graft scandals and investigations into ministers and party officials.

The European Commission estimates the Covid-19 pandemic will cut gross domestic product by 7.2% this year. While Borissov's public approval rose by 10 percentage points during the crisis, he faces a general election next spring after the full extent of the economic hit has become clear.

Borissov has been repeatedly asked about his ties to the businessman, whom he has met numerous times. Bozhkov accuses the prime minister of profiting from him, which Borissov has strenuously denied.

Antiquities Collection

After amassing a business empire spanning gaming to insurance and an antiquities collection he values at hundreds of millions of dollars, Bozhkov lost both overnight in...