Илко Желязков
An alleged frontman to Delyan Slavchev Peevski, Zhelyazkov is alleged to have conducted a bribery scheme involving Bulgarian residency documents for foreign persons, as well as bribing government officials through various means in exchange for their information and loyalty. For example, as of 2019, Zhelyazkov was suspected of offering bribes to senior Bulgarian government officials who were expected to provide information to Zhelyazkov for onward passage to Peevski. In return, Zhelyazkov would allegedly see that individuals who accepted his offer were placed in positions of authority and also provided a monthly bribe. Peevski and Zhelyazkov also allegedly had an official placed in a leadership position to embezzle funds to them in 2019. In another example, as of early 2018, these two government officials are suspected of having run a scheme to sell Bulgarian residency documents where company representatives purportedly paid bribes to Bulgarian officials to ensure their clients received citizenship documents immediately rather than making the $500,000 deposit or waiting the five years for a legitimate request to be processed. Lastly, Zhelyazkov is also suspected of having blackmailed a potential Bulgarian government minister with the threat of criminal charges from Bulgaria’s Prosecutor General’s office if the minister did not provide him further assistance upon appointment. [1] [2]
Information
| IDENTIFYING INFORMATION | Former Deputy Chief of the Bulgarian State Agency for Technical Operations |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 08.02.1958 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bulgaria |
| NATIONALITY | Bulgaria |
| COUNTRY OF RESIDENCE | Bulgaria |
| FULL NAME | Ilko Dimitrov Zhelyazkov |
| FIRST AND MIDDLE NAME(S) | Ilko Dimitrov |
| ALIASES | None |
| FAMILY MEMBERS | Vania Ilkova Zhelyazkova - daughter Roza Ilkova Zhelyazkova - daughter |
| FAMILY MEMBERS SUBJECT TO SANCTIONS | Vania Ilkova Zhelyazkova - daughter Roza Ilkova Zhelyazkova - daughter They are the Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2021. This makes them ineligible for entry into the United States. [1] |
| SUSPECTED OR CONFIRMED LINKS TO LEGAL ENTITIES | There are six entities registered in Bulgaria that are owned or controlled by Peevski or one of his companies: Int Ltd EOOD and Intrust PLC EAD are owned or controlled by Peevski. BM Systems EAD, Int Invest EOOD, Inttrafik EOOD, and Real Estates Int Ltd EOOD are owned or controlled by Intrust PLC EAD. [1] |
| ESTIMATES OF ASSETS FROZEN OR CONFISCATED | Unknown |
| ESTIMATES OF ASSETS RETURNED | None |
| SANCTIONS REGIMES | US Global Magnitsky Sanctions. [1] UK Global Anti-Corruption Sanctions. [2] |
| START OF SANCTIONS | 02.06.2021 [1] 10.02.2023 [2] |