Bulgaria to investigate $3bn Azerbaijan Laundromat claims. Bulgaria has ordered an investigation after revelations by “The Guardian” and other media partners that Azerbaijan operated a secret $2.9bn fund to lobby influential Europeans and to funnel money offshore. Prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov said he was launching an inquiry into Kalin Mitrev, Bulgaria’s representative to the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Mitrev received at least €425,000 (£390,000) from the scheme, which has been nicknamed the Azerbaijan Laundromat. Mitrev denies wrongdoing. He says the payments to his Swiss and Bulgarian accounts were for legitimate consultancy work and happened before he joined the bank’s board in London. The reports were a “doomed political attack” on his wife, Irina Bokova, the Director Deneral of Unesco, Mitrev said.