The Utre za vseki foundation, which supports breast cancer patients, saw nothing wrong in accepting 157 000 euro from former Litex Lovech football club president Angel Bonchev which he had gathered from friends as ransom money for the release of his wife Kamelia Boncheva kept in captivity for 19 days.

The foundation gave a news conference on July 31 following the strong media interest in the fact that it has played an important role in the Bonchevi family kidnapping drama that went on for more than two months.

The foundation became involved in the case on July 29 when Bonchev appeared on commercial bTV channel and said that for 19 days he had no news about his wife and had he decided to donate the money to a charity foundation. He was seen signing a contract for the donation with Utre za vseki's office manager Marin Hadjiiski and giving him a bag full of money.

Six hours later police found Kamelia Boncheva in good condition in Sofia's Kazichane neighbourhood. Since then, the only reaction that has come from Bonchev was that he wanted his family to be left alone.

Bonchev himself was kidnapped on May 22. He was held by the kidnappers for about 50 days. Despite police efforts, his whereabouts remained unknown. On July 10, police said that Bonchev had been released but his wife Kamelia had been taken in her attempt to deliver a "down payment".

"The money has been donated for a good cause [fighting breast cancer] and I see nothing wrong in that," Nina Hadjiiska, head of the foundation, said. She planned to use the money for providing treatment and special care to women who have undergone breast cancer surgery. "We will not spend the money this year because we are currently holding a campaign for building a day-care centre for women. Bonchev's donation will not be used for the centre but for treatment, as he requested," she said.

Rumyana Kozareva, chairperson of Utre za vseki, said that the money had to be transferred to the foundation's bank account by August 1. "At 10am this morning I talked to DSK bank, where our bank account is, who said that they are still waiting for the money to arrive. They have spoken to First Investment Bank who said that Bonchev has already made the transfer which will take some time because he is using a foreign currency account not leva," she said.

Kozareva said that the foundation did not work with cash payments but only via bank transfer, proving the work of the foundation is transparent. As for the piles of money that Bonchev was seen handing over to Hadjiiski on bTV, the latter said, "he gave me some money in front of TV cameras, but, after the shooting ended, he got it bank. I told bTV that we only operate via bank transfers but I was not shown saying that on TV afterwards". He gave a record of how things developed.

"I got a call from bTV saying they had a person who wanted to donate money to us. I was asked to get a contract form and hurry to bTV building. I was not told who the guy was. I only knew that he wanted to sign the contract on TV."

A bTV company vehicle took him to bTV building where he was transferred to another one and taken somewhere near the ring road and introduced to Bonchev. "In him I saw a human who wanted to donate money for a better cause. He wanted to do some good and hope that he'd get the same in return," Hadjiiski said.   

"We don't know why Bonchev picked our foundation. I only hope it is because we are known as a reliable charity and that we support a good cause," Hadhjiiska said.

BTV media officer Ina Markova said the same thing. "We don't know why Bonchev contacted us. We don't make the news, we cover it. I guess the fact that bTV is a media partner of Utre za vseki has something to do with that," she said.

Hadjiiska said that the foundation was not going to return the money to Bonchev. "We will wait until authorities perform an investigation as to whether the donation was made under pressure and then see what we will do, but we see the donation as an act of charity and nothing else. We haven't had the chance to meet with Bonchev to thank him."

However, she said that they will not take every donation for granted. "We will take every donation into consideration," she said, answering a question as to whether their act might encourage organised kidnappings.

"Our work is clear, transparent and honest," she said. "We will keep you informed about spending the money but I have no doubt that it was not performed under pressure but rather an act of generosity." She also said that she had no fears the kidnappers would look for them and ask for the money.