While the “Magyar Telekom” case finishes in the US, it still remains stuck in the judiciary system in Macedonia

At the moment, two cases have been opened against “Magyar Telekom”, even though they started a long time ago, and whether intentionally or not, have not moved since they hit a dead end.

Yesterday, former directors of “Magyar Telekom” Elek Straub and Andras Balogh, who were accused of having secret agreements with the Prime Minister at the time and other people from Macedonia to prevent competition in the market, agreed to pay fines up to 250.000 dollars and 150.000 dollars, stated the US Investigation Commission on Securities and Exchange.

The outcome of the “Magyar Telekom” case in the US comes at a time during a severe political crisis in Macedonia and institutional blockade. At the same time, the SPO is attempting to inspect the computer systems of “Macedonian Telekom” in connection with the investigation in the “Target” case, which should determine who was part of the illegal wiretapping affair in the country.

Also yesterday, prosecutors from the SPO held “a meeting of a higher level” with representatives from “Macedonian Telecom” in connection with the investigation regarding the mass wiretapping.

In late September, 2015, Bogoevski was called for questioning and gave four hours of testimony to the prosecutors.
Special Public Prosecutor, Katica Janeva, in February last year asked Public Prosecutor Marko Zvlevski if her office could takeover the case, however he refused and passed on the case to the Council of Public Prosecutors. He decides what cases are passed on to the SPO and which cases are not.

In Macedonia, charges have been filed against former directors of “Macedonian Telekom”, Attila Szendrei, Rolf Plath and Zoltan Kisjuhász. They are being charged for organizing fictitious consultancy contracts with the Cypriot Consulting Company “Chavtex holdings Limited”, and ended up costing “Macedonian Telekom” 4 million euros, and damaging the state budget for approximately 2 million euros, because the at the time, the Government owned 47% in shares of the company.

The investigation of this case began in 2008, and 3 years later, in 2011 charges were eventually filed. However, the actual trial has still not begun, even after 6 years, as the court hearings are constantly being postponed. The defendants have never appeared in front of a Macedonian court, even with international arrest warrants and a court ruling for their detainment.