Individual and company indicted for fraud in public tenders worth over 500,000 euros

The Basic Prosecution Office in Pristina has filed an indictment with the court against J.P. and a legal entity, suspected of the criminal offense of “Abuse and fraud in public procurement” under Article 415, paragraph 1, of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kosovo.

According to prosecutors, on January 19, 2024, J.P., as director and responsible person of the company “M… P..” SH.P.K., allegedly submitted falsified documents as part of a bid for the tender “Supply of medical consumables from the EL (Essential List),” announced by the Ministry of Health.

In this procedure, the group of economic operators bid €344,955.77 for Lot 1 and €169,012.36 for Lot 3.

The bid documents included ISO 13485:20216 certificate number 47014, issued by the certification authority “NQA” for the Chinese manufacturer “Forlong Medical Co., Ltd”. The certificate was used as evidence that requirement No. 2 of the tender dossier, concerning technical and professional capacity, had been met.

Prosecutors allege that the certificate had expired and was canceled in October 2022. They also suspect that the validity date on the submitted document was changed from 18.10.2022 to 18.10.2024.

According to the indictment, J.P. intentionally violated public procurement rules governing documents that demonstrate compliance with tender criteria. Through this action, he allegedly sought to mislead the contracting authority and influence the evaluation of the bid and the decision to award the contract, in the interest of the legal entity “M…..P….” SH.P.K.

In filing the indictment, the prosecutor in the case asked the competent court to find the defendants guilty and sentence them in accordance with the law for the offense with which they are charged, following a trial and the examination of evidence. The prosecutor also requested that they be barred from participating in public procurement contract award procedures.