The tiny difference between a criminal and a victim of a crime – the timing is the most important
Bulgarian citizenship is a great thing to have. But as with all great things, scammers from around the world look for prey. We will today revisit the most widespread fraud, namely the citizenship by origin scam.
This scam is perpetrated mainly by criminals located in Ukraine, Moldova and Romania, but sometimes the scammers are trying to disguise their identities and pretend to be operating from Bulgaria. They often lure their victims by aggressively marketing their services, promising to arrange Bulgarian citizenship by origin by “finding” the necessary Bulgarian roots for their victims. These are almost always birth certificates of the ancestors of the victims. You can read more details about these scams in the article of Posolstvo.eu.
What to do if you have fallen in the trap of the scammers
By engaging in these scams, the victims often have a bad feeling that something may be wrong. However the scammers are convincing them that the “discovered” birth certificates are genuine and that their forefathers have indeed been of Bulgarian descent. And frankly speaking, for a person from Moldova, Belarus, Ukraine or Russia, this may seem quite logical. So here they are – the documents are submitted to the Ministry of Justice, often through the Bulgarian embassy, and now is only a matter of time for the citizenship to be approved. Or? Or for the crime to be discovered.
When the crime is discovered
Soon or a later however, the Bulgarian authorities are discovering the fake documents and the citizenship by origin procedure is terminated. On top of that, by Bulgarian law, the authorities are obliged to inform the prosecutor and the police if they believe that a crime may have been committed. And here the real problems for the victims of the scammers start. Not only have they lost their money, paid to the scammers for the failed Bulgarian citizenship application. Now they may face different criminal charges, as per the Bulgarian penal code.
The charges are most often as per art. 308, par. 1 (up to 3 years jail term), par. 2 (up to 8 years jail term) and art. 313 (up to 3 years jail term). On top of that, the failed applicant will be deprived of access to the EU and Schengen zone. So what should you do if you have fallen in the web of the scammers and your documents have been proven to be fake?
What to do
If have are in a similar situation, don’t put the blame on the scammers only. Maybe you wanted Bulgarian citizenship so badly that you became blind and believed their false promises? Maybe you didn’t believe these birth certificates were genuine, yet you have submitted them? In all cases, after you have been officially informed that the documents have been forged, you have the chance to put thing right. You should seriously consider reporting the crime to the Bulgarian authorities.
Reporting the case to the Bulgarian authorities – police and prosecutor’s office
Nobody likes dealing with the police and the prosecutor. But in this case you better be fast. The difference between being a victim or a perpetrator is tiny. And a lot will depend on you. If you do nothing, you will prove that you are working together with the scammers who have put you in all that. If you are proactive and report the case to the Bulgarian authorities, you have very good chance to be excused. It all depends on how proactive you will be. And if you think that the Bulgarian authorities will not investigate the case, well, think again.
After Bulgaria joined the Schengen agreement on 31.03.2024, the authorities will be investigating each and every case without any exception. This is in line with the responsibilities of Bulgaria towards the other Schengen partners.
Whether you will be reporting the case through our lawyers or you will hire other colleague, you have to be proactive and act fast. If you are really short on money, you can report the case even without the assistance of a lawyer, but for your own good – do it asap.