On June 19 the Supreme Prosecution of Cassation requested from Italian authorities information on the investigation against former Bulgarian prime-minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg on charges of corruption.

According to Italian information, Saxe-Coburg was about to grant the Italian Prince Victor Emmanuel and businessman Pierpaolo Cerani participation in a Bulgarian hospital construction project if they financed Saxe-Coburg’s election campaign.

Bulgarian National Radio quoted Interior Minister Roumen Petkov as saying that the Interior Ministry would also check the corruption evidence and the first investigation results were expected in two to three days.

Saxe-Coburg said that the deal under investigation involved the construction of a pediatric hospital financed mainly by an Austrian company managing similar hospitals in Vienna. The project was never executed because of insufficient budget, Saxe-Coburg added.

Sofia mayor Boiko Borissov, who was Interior Ministry chief secretary at the time, said that during his term in office he received no information on money laundering, corruption or human trafficking in Bulgaria related to Saxe-Coburg or Victor Emmanuel.

Stoicho Katsarov from the opposition party Democrats for Strong Bulgaria (DSB) said that the scandal was 'predictable' as DSB had come upon the information in 2004. A special committee checked the information and proved the existence of an organised crime group for money laundering in Italy.