The Special Prosecutor’s Office has announced that it has filed two charges in connection with the “Thaler” case, one for the illegal financing of the political party VMRO-DPMNE, and the other for the illegal construction of the party’s headquarters.
The indictment for the illegal financing of the political party VMRO-DPMNE was filed against the former leader of the party, and current asylum seeker in Hungary, Nikola Gruevski, then for Kiril Bozinovski, Mile Janakieski, Ilija Dimovski, Leko Ristoski and Elizabeta Cingarovska, as well as the political party – VMRO -DPMNE.
“The accused Gruevski, in the period from 2009 to 2015, abused his official position, secured finances from anonymous and illegal sources financed the VMRO-DPMNE. Bozinovski and Janakievski intimidated representatives from various legal entities that had concluded public procurement contracts with state bodies, public enterprises or local self-government departments to provide cash to finance the VMRO-DPMNE party. Gruevski did not return the money to the individuals from whom the funds came, that is, he did not return it to the Budget of the Republic of Macedonia, consequently gaining illegal funds for the financing of the VMRO-DPMNE in the amount of at least €4,608,661,” reads the statement by the SPO.
To hide that the money came from criminal origins, Gruevski, Bozinovski, Janakievski and Cingaroska arranged for the funds to be paid into a VMRO-DPMNE giro account, through cash payments using “PP10” payment slips in which false information was entered claiming that the payments made were by the persons listed in the payment receipts, even though this was not the case.
Subsequently, as authorized signatories of the party’s account, Dimovski, Cingaroska, Ristoski and Janakieski released the money in further circulation by signing orders for payment and buying real estate for the political party VMRO-DPMNE while at the same time knowing that the funds had criminal origins.
