Wanted former state bank chief returned from Serbia

Former Bulgarian Development Bank (BDB) chief Stoyan Mavrodiev has been returned to Bulgaria by the Serbian authorities after consenting to extradition to Bulgaria, Bulgarian officials said.

Mavrodiev was handed over to Bulgarian authorities at the Kalotina border crossing and taken to Sofia, where he will remain in custody at the National Investigation Service pending a court ruling on his pre-trial detention.

He is accused in connection with an unsecured loan of more than 75 million euros granted by the state-owned Bulgarian Development Bank to a private company in 2019.

Mavrodiev was arrested in Belgrade in early June after arriving from Dubai, where he had been staying since Bulgarian authorities issued a European Arrest Warrant and an Interpol Red Notice.

His extradition was expedited after he consented to extradition to Bulgaria and agreed to cooperate with investigators, his lawyer, Emanuel Yordanov, said.

Editor: Ivo Ivanov