Extradited Bulgarian fraudster back behind bars in Bermuda

HAMILTON, Bermuda, Dec 21, CMC  – A convicted Bulgarian fraudster who fled the island before a Crown appeal to increase his sentence was heard, is back behind bars after he was extradited from England.
Credit card scammer Chavdar Bachev, 42,  was flown from the United Kingdom to Bermuda late Tuesday  and sent straight to Westgate maximum security prison to serve out the remainder of his sentence, which in June, was increased to two years from the original sentence of four months.
Bachev was caught after he was held in custody in England for similar offences.
Bachev and co-defendant Georgi Todorov, a fellow Bulgarian national, were caught at the airport with more than US$19,000 in cash as they tried to leave the island after a February crime spree.
In April, the pair were sentenced to a total of four months after they admitted to a string of charges, including three counts of theft and one of money-laundering.
Bachev was released on May 13 in line with his earliest release date, before the appeal date was fixed.
The Crown had no powers to detain Bachev, although he was aware of the filed appeal before he left Bermuda.
The appeal was heard on May 30 and the increased sentence was handed down two weeks later.
Bachev will now serve the remaining 20 months of the increased sentence.
Puisne Judge Charles-Etta Simmons, who jailed the pair for four months in April, said the offences were “not the most serious in our criminal law”.
But Director of Public Prosecutions Larry Mussenden said his office regarded money-laundering offences as very serious matters.
He added that island authorities would “pursue offenders no matter where they were so that they would be required to serve their rightful and just sentences in prison in Bermuda”.
However, he made no apparent attempt to bring back Todorov.