Last week, Bulgaria experienced a major scandal. It exposed a scheme that was used by criminals who provided temporary housing for people. The country’s Ministry of Internal Affairs discovered multiple illegal operations during an inspection.
On someone else’s grief
From the first weeks of the war, the Bulgarian government initiated a program that offered financial support to those who could provide shelter and food to Ukrainians. However, after a year had passed, a comprehensive parliamentary audit was carried out, which revealed unacceptable violations in the implementation of this program.
Double and sometimes triple registration of Ukrainian citizens became the main mechanism of criminals. Sometimes the number of refugees significantly exceeded the number of places in hotels, camps, or boarding houses.
A mystery with many unknowns
It has been discovered that some Ukrainian citizens who never left the country were included in the program. It is unclear how their personal information, such as passport number and series, was obtained. In some arrogant cases, it was found that these individuals did not actually exist.
The cases are currently being investigated by the prosecutor’s office. To finance the program, the money has been sourced from the funds provided by the European Union.
