.svg)
A former Bulgarian gambling operator known as “The Skull” and a group of ex-regulators have been indicted over allegations of corruption and extortion.
Vasil Bohzkov, nicknamed “The Skull” by US investigators, was indicted by state prosecutors over claims he colluded with members of the State Gambling Commission to avoid fees he should have paid on his lottery and betting businesses.
Prosecutors say they have interviewed more than 250 witnesses to compile an indictment numbering more than 3,000 pages. They allege that he conspired with commission officials to defraud the exchequer of more than 559m lev (€286m).
Bohzkov ran Eurofootball, at one time one of Bulgaria’s leading bookmakers, alongside major lottery operations, until a 2019 legal change effectively outlawed his business by turning the lottery sector into a public monopoly.
Eurofootball was also later pursued for more than €100m in allegedly unpaid fees, while Bohzkov faced murder and rape charges, among allegations that he had colluded with gambling regulators.
Concerns that the State Gambling Commission had been irreversibly corrupted led to its destruction in 2020 and the arrest of much of its senior leadership.
Since then, the Bulgarian gambling industry has been regulated by the National Revenue Agency.
Bohzkov meanwhile fled to the United Arab Emirates, from where he launched repeated broadsides against prosecutors and the government.
He alleged that former Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov had extorted him for 60m lev (€30m) to forestall threats to nationalise lotteries, something Borissov eventually did in 2019.
Bohzkov was extradited from Dubai back to Bulgaria in August 2023 and was arrested on arrival in Sofia. Local media reports say he is currently under house arrest and has been fitted with an electronic tag.
He was also added to a US sanctions list in 2021, along with a series of associated companies.
Bulgaria remains on the Financial Action Task Force greylist over concerns the country is not doing enough to prevent financial crime.
Another tilt at advertising
After failing to secure a ban on all gambling advertising in Bulgaria earlier this month, members of parliament in Sofia are again trying to introduce a bill that would radically limit gambling marketing.
Temenuzhka Petkova of the political party GERB-UDF and Yordan Tsonev of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) submitted amendments to the gambling act on Wednesday (April 24) that would ban gambling ads on television and in all forms of media, including online.
The bill would also restrict gambling halls to towns with more than 5,000 inhabitants and increase licence fees. It also includes some carve-outs for sports sponsorship and advertising within stadiums.
Members of three different parties had combined earlier this month to introduce a separate bill that would have placed similar limits on advertising, but the draft legislation was voted down in parliament.
Take a look at our latest Advertising Outlook for high-level intelligence and forecasts for the many complex issues surrounding gambling advertising and its controversial status around the world.
