Gjoko Ristov’s mother: I hid the 350,000 euros in the wall myself; I earned them selling watermelons, peppers and grapes

At the trial of former judge Gjoko Ristov, his parents testified about the 350,000 euros discovered in a bunker built into a wall. His mother, Donka Ristova, said the money was her savings, accumulated over 50 years from selling agricultural produce.

Donka Ristova explained that she kept the money behind the stove in the kitchen on the second floor of the house, which was built in 1975. According to her, the tile was secured at just four points so it could be easily removed, revealing the space behind it. She said she wrapped her savings in aluminum foil and placed them there, keeping them for hard times in her old age.

Asked why she had not deposited the money in a bank, she replied that she did not trust banks. “A bank does not guarantee more than 30,000 euros. A bank closed a few years ago; people kill themselves, they die,” Ristova said.

She said she had earned the money by working alongside her husband. “I earned money my whole life. We sold watermelons, melons, red peppers, walnuts and apricots at various markets. Later, we had vineyards and I sold grapes in large quantities,” she said.

During questioning, the judge confronted her with the fact that, according to the forensic examination, biological traces of her son, Gjoko Ristov, and not hers, had been found on the money. Donka Ristova said that was impossible. Her husband, Zdravko, Gjoko’s father, gave the same answer.