Bulgaria hands first sentence to embezzlers of EU funds

Bulgaria hands first sentence to embezzlers of EU fundsSofia - A Bulgarian court Thursday handed the first verdict for fraud involving European Union funds which has cost the Balkan country hundreds of millions of dollars in suspended and scrapped aid.

The court in Plovdiv sentenced businessman Marin Dipchev to three years in prison for embezzling 612,000 leva (440,000 dollars) of EU agricultural development aid. He was also ordered to return the money.

Several other trials were launched against Bulgarian officials and businessmen who forged documents to embezzle tens of millions of euros of aid the EU earmarked for its new member-state.

Last year Brussels reacted to the widespread corruption by halting a billion dollars' worth of aid for Bulgaria, which joined EU in 2007. (dpa)