Hristo Lachev, the chief executive of Bulgartabac, has become the target of a probe into alleged fund siphoning off from the former tobacco monopoly, mediapool.bg said, quoteing sources from the Sofia Prosecutor's Office.

Last month, the prosecutors reportedly launched two pre-trial investigations on suspicion of large-scale abuse in office and tax evasion, respectively. The probe is said to be completed by the end of April.

Bulgartabac was allegedly drained through five locally-registered firms, sources from the prosecutor's office told mediapool.bg on condition of anonymity. The companies allegedly signed advertising contracts with Bulgartabac, which were never implemented, thus draining around one million leva from the company. Prosecutors have launched pre-trial investigations against all five company owners.

Another part of the investigation leads to Italy. Bulgartabac has apparently sealed a 250 000 euro contract with an Italian company for the advertising of Bulgartabac brands and related marketing research ahead of the planned export of 6 000 packs of cigarettes to the country. A pre-trial investigation into the contract has also been underway on doubts that the company never carried out promotional activities.

Roman Vassilev, the deputy head of the Sofia Prosecutor's Office, would not say when the prosecution would be ready to bring charges on any of the investigations, saying the case was too complicated. He said, however, that prosecutors will request that Lachev be removed from office if it gathers solid evidence to bring charges against him.

Lachev can only be proven guilty only through his votes for or against the advertising contracts at board meetings, Vassilev said. “The ultimate objective is to prove that Bulgartabac never carried out advertising and that the money was embezzled,” he added.

If convicted on tax evasion charges, Lachev might spend up to six years in jail. If he is convicted for large-scale abuse in office, the sentence could range between 10 and 20 years.

Investigation into Bulgartabac started in the middle of May last year, when police and prosecutors launched a large-scale search of Bulgartabac's headquarters in Sofia. At that time Lachev said that the chief of the investigative service, Angel Alexandrov, had allegedly requested a 150 000 leva bribe, as did a deputy minister from the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, who had allegedly requested political appointments in the company. None of the claims were proven.