Deputy emergency situations minister Alexander Filipov, who was arrested following a raid by officers from the Sofia prosecutor's branch and police on June 6, is alleged to have arranged vote trading with Varna-based Roma baron Baku Sotyanov.

Filipov had misappropriated "millions of euro from the European funds - the money was used to buy votes for the elections," Dnevnik daily has said.

Currently, both Filipov and Stoyanov are under arrest and a criminal case has been opened.

Allegedly, Filipov had arranged for firms run by the Roma baron to win public tenders worth millions of euro, mainly in the sphere of construction. In exchange, 30 per cent of the contact's worth was returned in the form of money that was subsequently used to buy votes.

Stoyanov was allegedly entrusted with 'securing' several thousand votes, predominantly from the Roma community.  However, his scheme was tackled with his and Filipov's arrest on Monday.

According to sources, both were engaged with purchasing votes in favour of the National Movement for Stability and Progress (NMSP) party.

Deputy head prosecutor Galina Toneva said that the case continues and Filipov is being investigated for "corruption, embezzlement, vote trading, and mismanagement of projects financed by European funds, as well as projects funded by the state budget worth hundreds of thousands of leva".

Filipov was a former MP from NMSP, which suffered a heavy defeat in the July 5 election, subsequently losing all government representation.

Before his service with NMSP, he was a member of the directors committee of the international Roma organisation Soros–Roma, based in Zürich, Switzerland.