Skopje, 5 February 2025 (MIA) - Former director of the Government's General Affairs Department, Pece Mircheski, was detained late Wednesday after the Financial Police Office (FPO) opened an investigation for the crimes of taking bribes, falsification of official documents, embezzlement in service and negligence in service, the FPO has told MIA.

The owner of a rent-a-car service VIP, who is also charged with giving bribes, has also been detained.

Earlier in the day, the FPO said that Mircheski signed five public procurement agreements with a legal entity between June 2021 and June 2024, but failed to report a conflict of interest, did not exempt himself from the public procurement procedure, and ensured direct benefit for himself and a close person in the legal entity owned by the person who has been charged for giving bribes.

Mircheski also provided false and untrue data in five official documents related to conflict of interest in the public procurement agreements, and therefore committed crime 'falsification of official document'.

In addition, Mircheski signed requests for hotel reservations, airline tickets and decisions on official trips abroad while presenting false data related to the trips' purposes, thus damaging the Department's budget in the amount of Mden 1.8 million and committing crime 'embezzlement in service'.

Furthermore, Mircheski is charged with 'negligence in service' after enabling a person employed as a pilot within the Department's air service to be paid wages in the capacity of aircraft captain between October 2023 and June 2024, even though the person did not meet the requirements for the job position. Resulting from these actions, the Budget damages amount to Mden 3.44 million, said the FPO.

Photo: Pece Mircheski Facebook