Criminal charges filed against five people and two companies in Macedonia over money laundering suspicions

The Financial Police has filed criminal charges against five individuals and two companies suspected of money laundering, fraud, falsifying business records and tax evasion.

The investigation found that the owner of a company based in Skopje, D.K., signed an agreement in 2022 with a Slovenian company for the sale of railway tracks worth more than 21 million denars.

He received an advance payment of 283,000 euros under the agreement, but failed to deliver the tracks and did not return the money.

According to the suspicions, around 16.7 million denars were subsequently transferred through a fictitious invoice describing the purchase of chicken legs, while the money was transferred to the bank account of another person.

The authorities suspect that the money was then converted into foreign currency, withdrawn in cash and used to purchase a vehicle. It is also suspected that the transactions were concealed and the payment of around 1.9 million denars in taxes was evaded.