Bulgaria raids HQ of organised crime group selling fake documents for citizenship applications

Bulgaria’s directorate for combating organised crime and the State Agency for National Security carried out a search-and-seizure operation on July 2 in connection with a probe into a group that was selling false documents to support applications for citizenship on the grounds of Bulgarian origin, according to a statement by the Prosecutor’s Office.

The raid was conducted on the orders of the Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office after an alert of the imminent destruction of evidence related to the scheme, according to the statement.

In March 2025, Minister of Justice Georg Georgiev requested an investigation into the ministry’s Directorate for Bulgarian Citizenship.

The July 2 statement said that the ministry provided the State Agency for National Security with all relevant information. The data was in connection with an organised scheme for the illegal acquisition of Bulgarian citizenship by foreigners using false documents certifying origin.

On July 1, the Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office initiated pre-trial proceedings in connection with an organised crime group, the statement said.

The goal of the July 2 raid was to find, seize and preserve objects, papers, computer information data and other data that may be relevant to the case.

Witness interrogations are also being conducted, the Prosecutor’s Office said.

The investigation into the case is continuing, it said.