Bribery and racketeering involving the Special Prosecution Office
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On 15 July 2019, the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office for Prosecution of Organised Crime and Corruption filed an indictment against the head of the Special Prosecution Office Katica Janeva, the owner of a TV station Bojan Jovanovski and businessman Zoran Milevski for taking a reward for unlawful influence.
- Country
- North Macedonia
- Sector
- Public institutions
- Offence
- Abuse of official position or authority
- Phase
- 1st instance verdict
Description of the case
On 15 July 2019, the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office for Prosecution of Organised Crime and Corruption filed an indictment against the head of the Special Prosecution Office Katica Janeva, the owner of a TV station Bojan Jovanovski and businessman Zoran Milevski for taking a reward for unlawful influence.
According to the charges, Jovanovski used his influence over Special Prosecutor Janeva from November 2018 to April 2019 to enable local businessman Orce Kamcev to gain his release from custody and recover his passport. At the time, Kamcev was in custody as a suspect in the Imperija case under investigation by the Special Prosecution Office (SPO).
The third defendant in the case, Milevski, acted as Kamcev’s handler and arranged contacts with Jovanovski. After Kamcev, through his wife, paid half a million euro to Jovanovski and Milevski, Janeva proposed that Kamcev be transferred to house arrest, which was then accepted.
Subsequently, Kamcev paid another €1 million to have his passport temporarily given back to him, which Janeva and the SPO approved.
The prosecution said that Janeva used and exceeded her official position and authority and obtained €50,000 and furniture worth around €5,000, while Jovanovski and Milevski received €1.5 million. The allegations against Janeva and subsequent dismantling of Special Prosecution Office point to capture of the judicial system.
The trial started on 3 December 2019, with one defendant, Milevski, admitting guilt. He was sentenced to three years in prison for taking a bribe.
The time spent in procedural phases of the trial was unusually long and raises questions about the performance of the prosecutor. For example, investigative activities were stopped for three weeks when Public Prosecutor Vilma Ruskovska and her team went on holiday.
In a first-instance verdict issued on 18 June 2020, the Skopje Criminal Court found former head of the SPO Katica Janeva guilty of abuse of office and sentenced her to seven years in prison. Businessman and TV owner Bojan Jovanovski was found guilty of taking bribes and laundering money and was sentenced to nine years in prison.
As the Skopje Court of Appeal is yet to reach a final verdict in the case, both Jovanovski and Janeva were under house arrest as of November 2020.
Corruption offence
Accepting a reward for unlawful influence (trading in influence) (Article 359)
Cooperation (Article 22)
Money laundering (Article 273)
Abuse of official position and authorisation (Article 353 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of North Macedonia)
Suspects’ institutional affiliation
Special Prosecution Office (see here)
Date of offending
From November 2018 to April 2019 (see here)
Sector affected by the offence
Public institutions
Related developments
The case had tremendous impact on the work of the Special Prosecution Office, which has since been dismantled. It has also strongly affected the proceedings in the Imperija case and affected the reputation and role of the SPO to the extent that the Law on the Special Public Prosecutor has not been extended, the work of the SPO has ceased, the SPO’s cases have been transferred to the Public Prosecutor's Office for Prosecuting Organised Crime and Corruption (PPOOCC), and the SPO prosecutors have been transferred to the PPOOCC as well.
Court
The Court of First Instance Skopje 1 Skopje; Skopje Court of Appeal
Related domestic or foreign cases
This case is related to the Imperija case, where the businessman Orce Kamcev is accused of participating in various money laundering schemes.
From November 2018 to April 2019, the same kind of scheme between Janeva, Jovanovski and Milevski benefited Kamcev. Janeva, using her position, sought to affect developments in the Imperija investigation. Jovanovski and Milevski used their influence over Janeva to get Kamcev out of detention and mitigate other court measures, such as returning his passport to him.
As developments in the Racketeering case have uncovered, the suspects demanded €8 million from Kamcev to stop the proceedings against him in the Imperija case or €5 million if the proceedings were not stopped but mitigating circumstances were provided.
Current stage of the case in criminal procedure
Procedural history
On 9 November 2018, the SPO announced that it was opening a case called Imperija, in which 13 people, including businessmen Jordan Kamcev, Cvetan Pandeleski and Saso Mijalkov, were suspected of perpetrating various money laundering schemes.
In November 2018, the scheme in the Racketeering case began to develop. Bojan Jovanovski, who was close to Special Prosecutor Katica Janeva and to Zoran Milevski and involved in a business relationship with Jordan Kamcev, demanded €8 million from Kamcev to halt the investigation against him in the Imperija case or €5 million to obtain mitigating circumstances. While Kamcev was in custody, Jovanovski and Milevski contacted Kamcev’s wife and took €500,000.
On 20 February 2019, Jovanovski and Milevski were caught on a surveillance camera taking €1.5 million from Kamcev’s house, carrying the money in a Louis Vuitton bag. At the time, Kamcev was under house detention.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office for the Prosecution of Organised Crime and Corruption (PPOOCC) opened a pretrial procedure in the Racketeering case.
On 15 July 2019, the PPOOCC opened an investigation against Jovanovski and Milevski.
On 10 August 2019, Special Prosecutor Janeva explained that the reason for her contacts with Kamcev was because he might become a witness in a new investigation.
On 13 August 2019, one of the SPO’s prosecutors, Lile Stefanova, was called for questioning as a witness.
On 21 August 2019, the police detained Janeva and the criminal court ordered her 30-day detention.
On 18 September 2019, the criminal court extended Janeva’s detention for another 30 days, upholding the proposal to prosecute her for organised crime and corruption.
On 21 September 2019, Janeva remained in custody after a pretrial judge dismissed bail, while hearings in the case continued.
After 70 days in custody, the first suspect in the Racketeering case Bojan Jovanovski was questioned by the PPOOCC on 23 September 2019.
On 24 September 2019, Zoran Milevski, a second suspect in the case, was put under house detention.
On 1 October 2019, Jovanovski and Janeva remained in custody.
On 19 November 2019, the Court of Appeal accepted Janeva’s appeal and she was released from prison without posting a bond.
In December 2019, the first hearing was held in the Racketeering case, with Jovanovski and Janeva pleading not guilty. Milevski pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years in prison.
Obstacles
An obstacle arose in the case when the prosecutorial team took a three-week holiday and investigations stopped for the duration.
The Public Prosecutor Vilma Ruskoska and her team went on holiday on 1 August 2019 and, according to the prosecution’s information, investigative activities were stopped for the next three weeks. These actions raise questions about the performance of the prosecutorial team.
Resolution of the case
Zoran Milevski was sentenced to three years in prison for the crime of accepting a reward. He pleaded guilty on 3 December 2019 and his case was separated from the other defendants. Milevski remains under house arrest until the verdict becomes final.
Bojan Jovanovski was found guilty of taking bribes and laundering money, and sentenced to nine years in prison.
Katica Janeva, former head of the Special Prosecution Office, was found guilty of abuse of office and sentenced to seven years in prison.
Applicable minimum and maximum penalty in the highest band for the
For abuse of official position and authorisation (Article 353 of the CC):
Minimum: prison from six months to three years
Maximum: prison for at least five years
In the case of an aggravating circumstance, the minimum increases to imprisonment of six months to five years; and if the damage is significant, the minimum increases to imprisonment for at least three years.
For money laundering and other proceeds of crime (Article 273 of the CC):
Minimum: fine
Maximum: prison for at least five years
For accepting a reward for unlawful influence (Article 359 of the CC):
Minimum: fine
Maximum: prison from one to ten years
Source: Criminal Code of the Republic of North Macedonia
Charges pressed by the prosecutor in the actual case (including the penalties requested)
A public prosecutor charged the defendants with receiving a reward, money laundering and abuse of official position (see here)
Sanctions imposed
Zoran Milevski, the third defendant, was sentenced to three years in prison.
Bojan Jovanovski, the first defendant, was sentenced to nine years in prison.
Katica Janeva, the second defendant, was sentenced to seven years in prison.
Sanctions enforced
On 4 September 2020, the Court of Appeal upheld Milevski’s three-year prison sentence. However, the trial will be repeated in the case of Milevski’s confiscated items.
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