The European Public Prosecutor's Office has charged a Bulgarian citizen with attempted fraud with Chinese agricultural machinery

A Bulgarian businessman has been charged by the European Public Prosecutor's Office with attempted fraud with Chinese agricultural machinery. He tried to present the machinery as Bulgarian-made. A lawsuit has been filed in the Sofia District Court for attempted fraud with a European project worth nearly 2 million euros.

In 2021, the Ministry of Planning of the Republic of Congo announced a tender for equipment in the grain production, logging and processing sectors. The winning company had to provide tractors and agricultural machinery, which must be from an EU Member State. In order to meet the requirements, the accused businessman declared Bulgarian origin of the equipment. However, the inspection showed that some of the machinery was from China, and in some cases the declared manufacturers did not exist at all.

If found guilty, the man could receive between 1 and 6 years in prison and be fined between 1,000 and 5,000 euros. The information comes from the Bulgarian National Radio correspondent in Brussels, Angelina Piskova.