Skopje, 6 February 2025 (MIA) - A public prosecutor of the Skopje Prosecutor's Office has ordered investigation against two people, former director of the Government's General Affairs Department, who is suspected of taking bribes and embezzlement in service, and owner and manager of a legal entity, who is suspected of giving bribes. 

"Due to a flight risk and a risk of influencing witnesses in the proceedings, primarily employees at the General Affairs Department who are yet to be questioned, the public prosecutor has submitted a proposal to a pre-trial judge at the Skopje-based Criminal Court to order detention for the first suspect," the Prosecutor's Office said in a press release.

The Prosecution has proposed precautionary measures against the second suspect, i.e. ban on leaving the place of residence or stay, obligation to report to court authorities, have travel documents temporarily seized, as well as a ban on making any contact with the other defendant during the procedure.

The first suspect has signed five public procurement agreements with the legal entity, 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 second suspect.

In addition, he 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, the first suspect 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.

Photo: MIA archive