AFTER the release of  Hristo Grigorov and Krassimir Petrov in connection with the Bulgarian Red Cross (BRC) `donation-drain' affair, the names of polictical and religious figures were involved in the allegations.

Grigorov, who is president of the BRC, and Petrov were released from custody on February 10 and 14, respectively. The court quoted the reason for release as insufficient evidence. The third person involved in the case, Plamen Kouzov, is also free. Investigations into the alleged donation drain will end this week, judicial magistrates said.

Grigorov was arrested on February 3 for purportedly diverting millions of euros worth of US and European aid money in food, clothes, sleeping bags and medicine to commercial purposes. A circle of companies united by Grigorov is said to have imported the goods, declaring them as donations for the BRC in order to avoid paying taxes and then sold them on Bulgarian markets. Allegedly, Grigorov and his friends had been involved the shady deals for three years, a Bulgarian news agency reported.

According to allegations, the donations were intended to reach the chief mufti's office through the BCR. Former chief mufti Selim Mehmed said he had not received any BRC donations or documents for the delivery of the aid. Nedim Gendjev, chief mufti before Mehmed, said in an interview for bTV on February 15 that Mehmed had commissioned Petrov to release and sell dispatches for the BRC. The Bulgarian Socialist Party and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) were also mentioned in the machination schemes. Gendjev was arrested and remained in custody for allegedly illegally withdrawing 600 000 leva from the chief mufti's account. Head of the Plovdiv regional mufti Asim Hadjisan said MRF leader Ahmed Dogan ordered the summons because Gendjev would have revealed "misappropriation information" about Dogan, local news agencies reported.

Earlier, Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria (DSB) leader Ivan Kostov had accused the leadership of the MRF of helping the chief mufti's office to remove the donations. MRF members responded that Kostov was seeking media attention by getting involved in the proceedings. Grigorov denied all accusations and declared a hunger strike in protest.

After the court released Petrov, his attorney Yordan Kirov presented documents showing the donations reached recipients in Kurdjali, Smolyan and other cities. Court representatives said Petrov was released because there was no danger of him committing another crime or escaping before court proceedings begin.

Grigorov said shortly after he was released that the whole procedure followed a scenario.

"This campaign is taking us back to the times of state security: please stop it," Grigorov said, turning to Interior Minister Roumen Petkov. "It discredits you, Bulgaria, and all of us," Grigorov said, as reported by Bulgarian news agency BTA.

Grigorov was arrested after the National Service for Combating Organised Crime, together with the National Revenue Agency and the Executive Agency on Medicines, had searched 14 locations, including company offices and storage facilities, BTA reported.

Valeri Dimitrov, head of the Bulgarian National Audit Office, said the financial control exercised at the Red Cross is inefficient, Focus Information Agency reported. The internal accounting system has failures and employees lack experience in working with financial documents, Dimitrov said.

Such practices create corruption risks. A permanent control mechanism is needed to prevent the re-occurrence of similar problems in the future, Dimitrov said.

Director for the European Office of the Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies Linet Launds said, during a visit to the BRC, that it had a good system of financial accountability, and that international donors were content that it is revising its internal procedures for financial control.

Meanwhile, Bulgarian donor forum research showed that each day, Bulgaria is receiving fewer donations. Seventy percent of those interviewed for the survey said they wouldn't donate to any agency after the BRC events.

The BRC has been issuing statements of concern about the way the media has imparted information on the detainment and investigation of Grigorov since the beginning of the scandal.

"Presented this way, the information totally discredits the multiple activities of the BRC and its image on a national and international level," a BRC statement said.

The BRC has 430 full-time workers, 13 000 active volunteers and 146 000 members and is a contemporary of the modern Bulgarian state. Its first societies for helping the sick and the wounded were created in May 1878 in Sofia and Sliven. The International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva officially accredited them in 1885 after the unification of Bulgaria with East Roumelia.