Senior Officer of National Police Service Faces Criminal Charges

Criminal charges are pressed against head of the department in the National Police Service, Nova TV reported.

The head of the cultural and historical values sector at the General Directorate National Police (GDNP) Angel Papalezov has been charged after last night's raid on his office and home. The charges are for participating in an organized crime group.

Papalezov has been under investigation for months for his contacts with Vasil Bozhkov. The searches in his office and home were the result of a pre-planned operation.

The special prosecutor's office's action has nothing to do with the reshuffles at the Interior Ministry, investigators say.

Papalezov holds the office of Head of the Cultural Values Anti-Trafficking Unit of at the GDNP. He was appointed to the post after the retirement of Kiril Christoskov, who as a pensioner started working for Vasil Bozhkov's Trakia Foundation.

Last week Angel Papalezov was included in the team tasked with checking the activities of the General Directorate for Combating Organized Crime (GDBOP), where the incriminating materials against Bozhkov are kept. He was removed yesterday from the inspecting team.

The prosecutor's office announced a short time later that a senior police officer had been charged with participating in an organized crime group for trafficking cultural and historical values and money laundering. The investigation was for holding and trafficking of cultural and historical values and for money laundering.

The reason for investigation was possession and trafficking of cultural and historical values and money laundering.

The search warrant was issued by the Specialized Criminal Court on June 1, 2021.