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The Varna Court of Appeal sentenced the leader of “Volya” and Vice President of the National Assembly Veselin Mareshki to 4 years in prison for organized crime and extortion. The alleged accomplice, Krassimira Koleva, must remain behind bars for 3 and a half years for the same charge, the appellate magistrates ruled.
The sentence can be appealed before the Supreme Court of Cassation.
The case against Mareshki and Koleva has been going on for six years. In the first instance, the two were acquitted.
According to the indictment, in the period from October 9 to November 16, 2014, Mareshki and Koleva blackmailed businessman Asen Milanov into paying them a rent of BGN 10,000 for their pizzeria in Varna. The problem is that the property was not theirs. Milanov already had a lease with Tony D., with whom he had a contractual relationship.
Asen Milanov is the ex-husband of Krassimira Koleva. The prosecution’s allegations are that after the businesswoman was unable to get her property back in court, she sought the help of Veselin Mareshki.
The state prosecutor’s office explains Mareshki’s intervention by the fact that Krassimira Koleva owed BGN 65,000 to his wife. According to the indictment, she got involved to get her money back.
After Milanov refused to pay the rent to the two defendants, they retaliated. They filed complaints and began legality inspections of an external structure, which expanded the area of the establishment, leading to its demolition.
Subsequently, at the request of Krassimira Koleva, the power supply was cut off at the site. Then Asen Milanov asked for help from the leader of “Vazrazhdane” and city councilor in Varna Kostadin Kostadinov. The tenant of the pizzeria hoped that Kostadinov could help him resolve the conflict with Mareshki.
On October 15, 2014, after a scandal in the street, there was physical violence by the leader of “Will.” Mareshki was detained by the police and charged with beating Kostadinov.
Now, the Varna Court of Appeal has ruled that Mareshki must pay a fine of BGN 8,000. The fine for Koleva is BGN 6,000. The prosecution says that the two threatened the owner of the pizzeria with the destruction of the restaurant she managed and with the creation of obstacles that would lead to the liquidation of her business.
Veselin Mareshki’s lawyers say he did not commit a crime. According to them, he had no reason to blackmail because Krassimira Koleva had no property obligation to him. “He helped her without any material interest,” the lawyers told the court’s appeals press service.
This is not the only case of organized crime against one of the loyal allies of the Boyko Borissov government. In 2017, he was accused of blackmailing the owners of seven pharmacies. The prosecution charged two of his deputies, Plamen Hristov and Krastina Taskova, of the same.
After these accusations, Mareshki always came to the aid of the rulers when they needed him. At the beginning of September, the deputies of “Volya” gave the decisive signatures with which the draft of the new constitution of the GERB was presented.
Casually show me off
“I am absolutely convinced that I did not do anything wrong,” commented the Volia leader. He explained that he was in the courtroom and even congratulated the judges on the holy Christian feast of the Cross.
“I believe that good will defeat evil,” Mareshki said.
He explained that his sentence was imposed so that “some people” could boast about it. The European Commission report on the rule of law in Bulgaria is expected next week.
“Unfortunately, while our country is accused of failing to convict corrupt politicians and oligarchs, someone has decided, for the moment, that they can show my case. For the moment, I have been given this sentence, albeit provisional, in an ugly way. very transparent ”, explained the businessman-politician.
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