A Gaming Billionaire’s Questionable Trove of Ancient Artifacts Is Raided by Bulgarian Authorities

Bulgarian authorities have
seized assets belonging to gaming billionaire Vasil Bojkov,
including items from his collection of more than 3,000 ancient
artifacts housed at the Thrace Foundation, which he founded in
2004. Bojkov himself has also been detained in Dubai.

In a dramatic move, Bulgaria’s
prosecutor general filed charges against Bojkov in absentia
on January 29 for alleged offenses that include leading an
organized crime group, extortion, coercion, blackmail, and
attempted bribery of an official.

The Thrace Foundation posted a
statement on Facebook on January 31 claiming that the items had
been seized on false pretenses. “We are reaching [out] to you with troubling
news about an unprecedented violation against world cultural and
historical heritage, taking place in Bulgaria right now,” the
statement reads. “We are facing a blatant violation of the law
regarding the priceless objects from the Vasil Bojkov Collection
without any legal justification.”

The statement also claims that
the objects taken by the Bulgarian authorities have been mishandled
and packed in a way that could damage them.

“The authorities are attempting
to seize fragile and unique works of art in plastic bags,” it
reads. ”Such barbaric behaviour and deliberately demonstrative acts
toward the priceless cultural and historical heritage of Bulgaria
are not only unprecedented but also deprived of the simplest
understanding of the significance of these objects.”

The prosecutors office in
Bulgaria denies the allegations, saying that nine staff from the National Museum of
History in Sofia are dealing with the seized items, according to
the ARCA blog.

Bojkov’s collection includes
more than 3,000 items dating from 6,000 BCE up to the sixth century
from the Greeks, Macedonians, Romans, Byzantines, Bulgars, and the
Thracians.

The artifacts amassed by the
billionaire are widely believed to be of questionable
origins. Indeed, in
2007 he tried to stage an exhibition at the European Parliament in
Brussels titled “The Grandeur of Bulgaria” to celebrate the
country’s admission to the European Union, but it was shut down
amid protests over the provenance of the collection.

Bojkov, thought to be Bulgaria’s
richest man, owns stakes in many of the country’s gaming and
lottery companies but has long been believed to be involved in
organized crime such as money laundering, extortion, illegal
antique dealing, and racketeering.

He claims that the government is
trying to take over his business as the authorities have already
made moves to take control of their lottery in which he has a
stake,  shutting out private investors in order to improve tax
collection.

“Until a court decision, none of
the completely random charges against me is proven,” Bojkov said on
Thursday in a statement to Bloomberg News, in
which he also claimed he and his businesses have paid all necessary
taxes.

Bulgarian authorities are
preparing an extradition request for him to return from the UAE to
face charges, however there is currently no extradition treaty
between the two countries.

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Ancient Artifacts Is Raided by Bulgarian Authorities appeared
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