A Whiff of the 1990s: Did the Gangster Years Ever Really End?

A Whiff of the 1990s: Have the Mobster Years Ever Really Ended?

One person has been charged with the murder of Slavi Binev, while the motive is still being clarified. From the killings of Lyubomir Ivanov and Alexey Petrov to the Notary case, the chronology casts doubt on the notion that the violent transition is a thing of the past...

On October 25, the prosecutor’s office announced charges against one of the three people detained after the murder of Slavi Binev. While investigators work to establish the motive, political explanations have pointed to oligarchy and the redistribution of money. Behind the current news lies a longer history, of murders, slow justice and dependencies that outlive their intermediaries.

On October 25, the Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office announced that one of the three people detained after the murder of Slavi Binev had been charged with intentional homicide. According to prosecutor’s office spokesman Nikolay Nikolaev, the evidence gathered points to a single perpetrator acting alone. At this point, there is insufficient evidence to bring charges against the other two, BNR reported from the prosecutors’ briefing ..

Binev was shot dead at his home in Sofia on October 24. The following day, the prosecutor’s office’s main clarification was that the motive was still being established. An acquaintance and business relationship between the victim and the accused have been established. This is what has been publicly announced about the investigation. Beyond that, the theories begin.

The murder of a man who passed through the transition-era business world, the European Parliament and sports administration naturally brings back memories of the 1990s. But the phrase “a whiff of the past” contains one unproven reassurance: that the past is over.

The chronology of serious crimes and documents concerning influence over the justice system allow for a more uncomfortable reading. Part of the coercive model has adapted to the new conditions without being fully dismantled.

From the First Arrests to the First Charge

The suspect charged with Binev’s murder has been detained for up to 72 hours. A request for the measure of “remand in custody”has been filed with the Sofia City Court. The pistol believed to have been used in the crime has also been found, according to prosecutor’s office information reported by bTV.

This development changes the initial picture. The three detainees cannot be presented as three proven participants. One has been charged, while the prosecutor’s office says there is insufficient evidence against the other two at this point.

On October 24, the Interior Ministry cited unsettled financial relations as a possible motive. Interior Ministry Secretary General Lyubomir Nikolov said the initial data did not provide grounds to speak of a contract killing. The prosecutor’s office’s subsequent clarification leaves the motive open for investigation.

Accuracy here is of direct public importance. If the first theory becomes accepted as the final truth before the examinations and interrogations are completed, every subsequent development begins to look like a “turnaround”. Often, however, it is simply the establishment of facts that were not known in the first hours.

The Political Explanation Came Before the Motive Was Established

On October 25, Prime Minister Rumen Radev placed the killings of Binev and Iliyan Filipov in a broader political context. He said that the oligarchy and the underworld were losing control over public procurement and financial flows, and that this could be intensifying conflicts over resources. Radev allowed for the possibility of more such crimes.

The prime minister presented the swift arrests as evidence that state functions were being restored. This assessment must be considered separately from the procedural facts. A political statement about the redistribution of money does not establish the motive for a specific murder. Nor does a charge amount to a verdict.

The swift police response matters and deserves to be acknowledged. After that, however, the work begins that rarely fits into a television frame: checking witness statements, conducting examinations, reconstructing the relationships between those involved and presenting evidence in court.

That is precisely where the extent to which the state has restored its functions is tested. A police operation can be completed in hours. Criminal liability must stand… for considerably longer.

What Remained After the Tracksuits and Insurance Stickers

The mobster years are often told as a series of nicknames, expensive cars and spectacular conflicts. This easily obscures the economic mechanism: the ability, through violence, threats and institutional ties, to determine who works, who pays and who gives way.

In the study “Organized Crime in Bulgaria: Markets and Trends” from 2007, the Center for the Study of Democracy traces the force-based insurance businesses surrounding VIS and SIC and the entry of criminal structures into the legitimate economy. The authors describe a decline in some forms of overt violence, accompanied by more sophisticated means of influencing competitors, including court proceedings and corrupt dependencies.

The conclusion from this historical picture is significant: a decline in visible violence does not in itself prove that coercion has disappeared. It may simply become quieter and more difficult to prove.

The sticker in the shop window is visible. The intermediary who promises to arrange a case operates in a different environment. In both cases, dependence arises when a person comes to believe that the legal order will not protect them without someone else’s permission.

The following cases have different circumstances and do not prove the existence of a single criminal scheme. They have been selected because of their public impact and their publicly documented progress, not as statistics on all murders in Bulgaria.

2018: Petar Hristov, Shot on the Way to His Office

On January 8, 2018, businessman Petar Hristov was shot outside the Lactima offices in Sofia. He died at the Military Medical Academy. At the time, the Interior Ministry said there was no information that he had received threats and that he had no security detail. The main theories were linked to his business, while other possibilities were also being examined, according to the police statement reported by NOVA.

This case remains an important reference point because of the location and circumstances: a working day, an office, a city street. The murder took place in a space people use for their most ordinary daily activities.

That is precisely why the explanation “this is their own feud” is so inadequate… A shooting outside an office affects not only the victim and the attacker. It creates a risk to bystanders and shows how far a conflict can go when someone decides to resolve it with a gun.

2022: Lyubomir Ivanov, Murder, Charges and Delays

On March 25, 2022, former police officer Lyubomir Ivanov was shot dead outside his home in Sofia’s Lozenets district. Kristian Iliev, charged as the perpetrator, and Boyan Tabakov, charged as an accomplice, are defendants in the case. In March 2023, Krasimir Kamenov, known as Karo, was charged with incitement.

The public court chronology documents prolonged delays. In April 2025, BNR reported a new postponement, following earlier judicial recusals. On June 3 of the same year, BTA reported another unsuccessful attempt to start the trial.

These dates show why an arrest and a judicial outcome cannot be treated as interchangeable concepts. Even when there are defendants and a case has been brought to court, years may pass between the crime and its hearing in the courtroom.

For the bereaved, time is not divided into a police success, a prosecutorial stage and a court procedure. It remains time after the loss, during which an answer is still awaited.

2023: Karo, Four Victims Reduced to a Single Nickname

In May 2023, Krasimir Kamenov, known as Karo, his wife and two other people were killed in Cape Town. Kamenov was one of the figures linked to Bulgaria’s force-based groups in the 1990s. His death came after he was charged with incitement to murder Lyubomir Ivanov, Radio Free Europe recalled ..

In March 2024, South African police released photographs of two men who could assist the investigation. According to information reported by bTV, six suspects were seen leaving the crime scene in vehicles.

In media accounts, this case is usually referred to as “Karo’s murder”. The wording almost erases the other victims. Four lives taken are folded into the biography of the most recognizable figure.

At the same time, the international nature of the investigation requires more than putting together acquaintances and nicknames. Evidence is needed that can be collected, exchanged and used across different legal systems. Public suspicion does not shorten this process.

August 2023: Alexey Petrov, shot dead on Vitosha

On August 16, 2023, Alexey Petrov was killed on Vitosha. The woman accompanying him was also wounded in the shooting. The crime was committed in an area with hiking trails, according to reports on the investigation.

Petrov’s biography brings together security services, business and prolonged legal conflicts. That is why one fact must remain clearly visible: in the case “Octopus” he was finally acquitted in 2021. His murder cannot be used as posthumous confirmation of unproven accusations.

In June 2026, a publication about the civil claim against the prosecution service describes an unusual consequence of the lengthy legal process. His heirs continue the proceedings for compensation, while the court has ordered an expert assessment of the suffering he endured. The person whose condition is to be assessed has been dead for nearly three years.

This proceeding is separate from the investigation into the murder. The comparison nevertheless shows the human cost of institutional time: sometimes a dispute with the state outlives the person who started it.

2024: The Notary, when the intermediary promises access to justice

On January 31, 2024, Martin Bozhanov, known as the Notary, was shot dead in Sofia. His name became publicly known through the investigation by the Anti-Corruption Fund “Quick Control List”, launched in 2021. It contains testimonies and recordings concerning paid mediation offered in a legal case.

Here, the connection with the legacy of the transition has a particularly concrete dimension: the claim that a lawful solution to a problem can be bought through the right person.

On April 29, 2024, the Anti-Corruption Fund published an operational report by the General Directorate for Combating Organized Crime on the alleged group around Bozhanov. According to the fund, the information was sent to the prosecution service in 2022, and pre-trial proceedings were opened in April 2023. The document describes alleged links to magistrates and police officers, pressure, and the use of institutional procedures. The Anti-Corruption Fund expressly clarifies that these data are subject to verification and proof in the criminal proceedings.

Under such a model, coercion can operate without a physical blow. It is enough for a person to be convinced that their freedom, property or business depends on an intermediary with access to the institutions.

The death of this intermediary does not establish who actually assisted him. Nor does it prove that the alleged channels of influence have been cut off. That requires separate checks, evidence and accountability for specific individuals.

2026: Vladimir Yankov, murder concealed by fire

On July 27, 2026, Vladimir Yankov was found dead in a house in Bankya. The case is being investigated as intentional murder. The entrepreneur ran a business involving coffee, tea and equipment for vending machines, according to bTV’s published timeline.

In August, Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev said that the evidence gathered pointed to an initial objective other than murder. In his words, the case did not bear the hallmarks of a professionally planned execution. The body was found after a fire, and according to Mediapool’s publication on the investigation the fire destroyed a significant portion of the evidence.

This case also requires an explanation of its own. The victim’s profession does not prove organized crime, and the absence of signs of a professional hitman does not make the murder any less serious.

For the state, the task remains the same: to establish the actions, participants and cause of the crime, without some such description replacing the evidence.

September 2026: Iliyan Filipov, the accused remains in custody

On September 30, Iliyan Filipov was shot dead in Plovdiv , a businessman and president of football club Botev. In early October, supervising prosecutor Dimitar Molev described the alleged motive as personal, arising from financial relations between people who had known each other for a long time, BTA reports BTA.

The subsequent legal development is specific: on October 13, the Plovdiv Court of Appeal upheld the detention in custody of Slavcho Megerov, who has been charged with the murder. The ruling on the measure is final. The defense denies that he is the perpetrator, according to NOVA’s report from the same day…

The remand measure does not decide the merits of the case. It reflects the court’s assessment of the detention at this stage. Guilt must be established in the criminal proceedings.

Together with Binev’s murder, the cases of Filipov and Yankov form an alarming series of three murdered entrepreneurs in nearly three months. HOWEVER... This is a chronological fact. A common motive, common instigator or common criminal operation does not automatically follow from it... 

The most enduring legacy is dependence

The murders are the most visible part of this story. It is harder to see the environment in which people begin to regard connections as a necessary expense, the intermediary as more reliable than the procedure, and silence as safer than testifying.

The comparison between the historical development of the силовите structures and the data in the case “The Notary” supports the conclusion that pressure can move from the street into institutional relations. This does not mean that every institution or every magistrate is dependent. Even a limited channel for undue influence, however, can cause extensive damage, including to honest people within the system.

If a decision can be “fixed”, suspicion also falls on decisions made entirely lawfully. In this way, an alleged influence network affects far more citizens than its immediate participants.

That is why a change of generations among well-known figures is not enough to end the model. The possibility of fear and access to the state being sold as a private service must be eliminated.

The documents do not allow us to say goodbye to the past…

On June 6, 2026, acting Prosecutor General Vanya Stefanova said in an interview published by the prosecution service, that action in the proceedings related to Petyо Petrov, known as the Euro, and the alleged group around Bozhanov had been activated. She described these dependencies as a serious problem for confidence in the justice system.

In the 2026 Rule of Law Report the European Commission found a lack of progress toward convincing results in investigations, indictments and final convictions in high-level corruption cases. It also noted a lack of follow-up after the work of commissions investigating threats against magistrates and possible undue influence in the judicial system.

These findings do not explain the murders in question. They explain why the claim that the era of violence and coercion is over is met with justified skepticism. Change must be evident in effective safeguards, demonstrable accountability, and results that stand up in court.