2024-07-04 01:34:35
Zahir Osmanov’s company has been working with the Ministry of Education and Science since 2007 and won contracts for BGN 86 million, but according to the court everything is transparent and there is no crime
Sally Tabakov, the regional leader of DPS-Varna, who was arrested on June 21, did not launder money and did not help the chief secretary of the Ministry of Education, Albena Mihailova, to conclude unprofitable deals worth millions.
This is what the evidence of a 10-day investigation shows, it became clear in the Court of Appeal in Sofia, which released Tabakov from prison without bail. The same applies to his father-in-law, Zahir Osmanov, who is the owner and manager of the company “Jemi”, which supplied the buses to the Ministry of Education. The investigation into the case continues, but the long-time leader and current municipal councilor in Varna, already expelled from the DPS, will be free.
“Jemi” has been supplying buses under a framework contract since 2018. BGN 52 million was paid by the state for the flights, but “Jemi” OOD paid for them twice less, and this is clear from the invoices and customs declarations, they said the prosecutor’s office at the hearing. In addition, during the searches in the homes of Tabakov and Osmanov were found nearby BGN 3 million of the money transferred to “Jemi” from the Ministry of Education and Culture, and the bundles were in the bank’s envelopes. Osmanov withdrew them at the cash register, and this is clear from the testimony of bank employees.
According to the defense of Tabakov and Osmanov, the contracts are worth more than the invoices from Turkey, because “Jemi” is also committed to the maintenance of the flights for 2 years or 200 thousand kilometers, which also costs money. The court accepted the arguments and noted that there was no evidence of unprofitable transactions, for which Albena Mihailova was accused as the perpetrator, and Tabakov and Osmanov as aides.
For everything there are documents, offers, considered by a commission in the Ministry of Education, transfers, deliveries. After the hypothesis of an unfavorable transaction is eliminated, there is also no money laundering, in which Tabakov and Osmanov are accused. And during her interrogation as an accused, Albena Mihailova stated that she did not know them.
Relatives of the two detainees had come to the courtroom. One of them is the brother of Sally Tabakov – Mithat Tabakov, who is a former mayor of Dulovo and a former deputy. He was sentenced to 5 years in prison in 2014 and served half of it because he was released early. As the mayor of Dulovo, Tabakov concluded a contract with his brother’s father-in-law’s company – the same “Jemi” Ltd., for the construction of the water cycle in the city, but without the company having a certificate for working with European money and in violation of the law on public procurement. This happened in 2005. However, Mithat Tabakov’s problems with justice and his stay in prison did not affect his brother’s party and business career.
A few years after Jemi’s contract with the Dulovo municipality, the company began working with ministries and other state institutions to supply them with buses. Since 2007, “Jemi” began working with the Ministry of Education and Culture and providing flights for tens of millions for children who travel to schools from other villages and cities. In 2018, he also signed a new framework contract.
Only this company of the family has won orders for BGN 86 million with the state.
Sally Tabakov is the second senior DPS officer in recent months to be arrested. The first was the mayor of Omurtag Eshref Eshrefov. He is a long-term mayor of DPS. Since he has been in office, he has been awarding felling and firewood delivery contracts to his father. The two were arrested in the autumn, shortly before the local elections. Eshrefov then stated that he was running for another term, but not from the DPS. Investigators from the Anti-Corruption Commission conducted the operation in Omurgat and detained the father and his son. The prosecutor’s office charged them and they were in custody. After that, the mayor was removed from the post, a the court declared his election invalid.
The Anti-Corruption Commission is also investigating Sally Tabakov from Varna. The reason is that the Secretary General of the MES Albena Mihailova holds a public position. Tabakov is the mayor of Varna.
He has been at the head of the local DPS structure since 2016. Before that, the post was held by Ercan Ebatin, who later became a deputy. Locals associated Tabakov’s arrest with a conflict with Ebatin. He is close to the owner of the Afera website, Veselin Tomova, who reported on the buses of the Ministry of Education and Culture and the role of Tabakov. In addition to being a politician, he is a large-scale businessman, according to a reference in the Commercial Register. The same becomes clear about his wife and father-in-law Zahir.
Sali Tabakov is known in Varna for his luxury cars, yacht cruises and lavish lifestyle. It is an open secret that his business has been connected to the state for two decades. Throughout his career, he flaunted his closeness to the central leadership and leaders of the DPS. A portrait of Ahmed Dogan stands highest in his office. There are photos of him shaking hands with Mustafa Karadai, but also with his successor in the post of chairman, Delyan Peevski.
In the elections in April 2023, Sally Tabakov was second in the DPS list in Varna in the elections for the 49th National Assembly. He failed to enter, unlike the driver Filiz Huysmenova. She also entered the 50th Parliament, but withdrew. Officially – because of the poor results of the DPS in Varna, and unofficially – because of the new management policy.
“This case is proof that after the closure of the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office, contract cases improved. This vicious practice continues”, said after the court session on Tuesday, lawyer Vasil Vasilev, who defends Sally Tabakov. He was also his brother Mithat’s lawyer.