The MP from “Democratic Bulgaria” Ivaylo Mirchev continues the search for the missing bitcoins, which were seized by the Ministry of Interior as evidence during the operation “SHIPMENT / VIRUS” in 2017.
He sent inquiries to the Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev and the Center for Combating Crime in Southeast Europe (SELEC) with a request for information on the case.
“After receiving answers from the Interior Minister about the confiscated bitcoins, which do not provide essential information, I turned to SELEC and the prosecutor’s office. The reason for writing to the Chief Prosecutor is the information from the Ministry of Interior that the specialized prosecutor’s office is working on the case “, announced Mirchev.
SELEC is expected to provide the most details of the service’s action in 2017, as they have been duly informed about the confiscated virtual currency.
The story dates back 5 years ago, when SELEC announced that Bulgaria had confiscated 213,576 bitcoins, which at today’s price are almost 10 billion dollars. When the bitcoins were seized, their value at market prices was $ 500 million.
Attempts by investigative journalists from “Bivol” to find out the fate of bitcoins during the GERB government hit a snag. The circumstances surrounding this operation remain unclear to this day, as does the fate of the confiscated cryptocurrency itself.
Ivaylo Mirchev asks the Prosecutor General to receive an answer whether pre-trial proceedings have been instituted, whether an indictment has been filed in court, how many bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies have been seized in the investigation, where bitcoins are stored – online platform / exchange, hot wallet ( wallet on a computer connected to the Internet), on a cold wallet (wallet on a device separate from the computer that does not have an Internet connection) or on other media.
“Do the investigating authorities have the necessary private keys and keywords to recover these private keys in order to dispose of seized bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies, has any evidence been disposed of so far and if so, what order, when and for what reason, are they currently available as evidence in the case and are they available to the prosecutor’s office? ”Mirchev asks.
