In October 2020, the State Commission for the Prevention of Corruption (SCPC) opened a case following anonymous reports received in May 2020 alleging the misuse of European Union funds from schemes related to education, youth and employment by Lidija Dimova, director of the National Agency for European Educational Programs and Mobility. Upon receiving the anonymous reports, the SCPC requested information from several state institutions. The Ministry of Education and Science informed the SCPC that, following a probe, financial irregularities were detected at the national agency. Furthermore, the State Labor Inspectorate discovered that 107 contracts for advisers from public calls for tender were improperly concluded by Dimova. The reports of misconduct within the agency, which had faced controversy in the past, prompted the public prosecutor's office and the Financial Police Administration to open preliminary investigations.

As the case became public, an article by the A1on portal alleged that, since 2018, €270,000 of European Union funds for projects in digital media literacy and vocational training were awarded to a hair salon, VEZ Trade, owned by Zoran Zlatkovski, a frequent consultant at the national agency. A follow-up article further reported on irregularities alleged by experts engaged in Zlatkovski’s projects. Additionally, stories surfaced on social media about other questionable projects funded by the agency.

Zoran Zlatkovski responded that the grants were lawfully awarded to his company and that he is not a hairdresser but a trainer and consultant specialised in vocational training and education. Lidija Dimova denied the allegations, noting that they came out as she was investigating misappropriation of funds by the agency's previous VMRO-DPMNE led management. In June 2020, Dimova published a story alleging the misuse of €2.2 million in European funds by the agency.

On 30 October 2020, the basic public prosecutor's office opened an official investigation into four suspects for the alleged misappropriation of European funds: Lidija Dimova, Zoran Zlatkovski, Aleksandar Gochev, (an external adviser to the agency) and Ana Pavlidu (former treasurer of the agency). On the same day, the management board of the national agency dismissed Lidija Dimova from her position as director. Furthermore, at the request of the prosecutor's office, the basic criminal court of Skopje imposed precautionary measures on all the suspects except Pavlidu. These measures included the confiscation of travel documents, the obligation to report periodically to the court, and a ban on certain work activities related to the crime.

On 1 June 2022, following a prolonged investigation which also involved the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), the basic public prosecutor's office submitted an indictment against three of the four initial suspects.

The primary defendant, Lidija Dimova, was charged with two crimes: abuse of official position and authority, and fraud to the detriment of European Union funds. The indictment stated that Dimova abused her position to obtain property benefits for others. Without conducting a public tender, she discriminated against potential candidates, enabling preferential treatment of individuals hired through individual contracts as advisers, experts and trainers. Also, on five occasions, Dimova is alleged to have misused EU and North Macedonia funds by breaching public procurement procedures and concluding contracts with four legal entities who acquired property benefits. Finally, Dimova is said to have violated rules governing expenses for business trips.

The second defendant, Aleksandar Gochev, was charged with fraud to the detriment of European Union funds, while the third defendant, Ana Pavlidu, was charged with malpractice in service. According to a factual reconstruction, Gochev, in agreement with Lidija Dimova, prepared false cash payment forms for business trips. Gochev then submitted these forms, without appropriate documentation or the required original signature of Dimova, to Ana Pavlidu, then treasurer at the national agency. Based on these forms, Pavlidu paid Gochev a total of MKD943,757 (around €15,000). Pavlidu also failed to prepare a cashier's diary and cash report for the disbursed money. According to the indictment, the three defendants caused damage to state and EU assets amounting to MKD19,945,731 (around €320,000). Zoran Zlatkovski, initially investigated as a suspect in the case, was not indicted by the prosecutor.

The trial for the case began on 2 February 2023. While Lidija Dimova pleaded not guilty, Aleksandar Gochev pleaded guilty to the charges. On 21 February 2023, Gochev received a suspended sentence of two years, meaning that he will serve the prison term if he commits another crime within five years or fails to reimburse the embezzled €15,000 from the national agency’s treasury within six months. At the time of publication, the trial against Lidija Dimova and Ana Pavlidu is ongoing.

Dimova has dismissed the case as media constructed to damage her reputation, suggesting it was orchestrated to silence her after she exposed the misuse of €2.2 million at the national agency. In 2024, Dimova also claimed that in June 2020, then prime minister Zoran Zaev personally requested she withdraw the criminal complaint.

In March 2024, OLAF demanded that North Macedonia reimburse €2.2 million, misused through the Erasmus+ programme during the 2016-2018 period, thereby backing Dimova’s assertion. On another note, OLAF and the prosecutor's office unfroze the funds granted to Zoran Zlatkovski back in 2020, which had been frozen pending the conclusion of investigations into the fraud allegations. Over the years, North Macedonia has been scrutinised by OLAF investigators for other alleged misuses of European funds.

Corruption cases involving fraud by appointed officials at the expense of EU programmes erode public trust in state institutions and can jeopardise North Macedonia’s access to EU funds. Such actions also undermine the intended impact of EU funding schemes in the country. Finally, the misuse of public procurement procedures impairs economic growth and prevents the just and efficient distribution of public resources.