The Ministry of Internal Affairs in Skopje submitted a criminal complaint to the Public Prosecutor's Office in Skopje against Z.A., the former director of the Food and Veterinary Agency, on suspicion of committing the criminal act of "embezzlement in office" under Article 354, paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code, F.M., the former deputy director of the agency, on suspicion of committing the criminal act of "embezzlement in office" under Article 354 in connection with Article 24 of the Criminal Code "aiding," and against L.U., A.R., E.T., A.B., and A.B., employees of the Food and Veterinary Agency, on suspicion of committing the criminal act of "embezzlement in office" under Article 354 in connection with Article 24 of the Criminal Code "aiding."
Z.A., in his capacity as the director of the Food and Veterinary Agency, from 2017 to 2020, on multiple occasions, with the intent to unlawfully acquire for himself monetary funds entrusted to him in his official capacity for business trips abroad that he attended, received per diems at a rate of 50%, even though according to the Regulation on Amendments to the Regulation on Expenditures for Business Trips and Official Travel Abroad, he should have only received 20%, since the costs for accommodation and meals were not borne by the institution. F.M., in his role as deputy director of the Food and Veterinary Agency, by signing the decisions for approving official trips abroad, assisted Z.A. in unlawfully appropriating the funds, while L.A., A.R., and E.T. on several occasions, contrary to the aforementioned Regulation, prepared decisions for approving an official trip abroad in the name of Z.A., based on which decisions A.B. and A.B. approved the disbursement of funds based on the previously prepared decisions, even though they knew and were aware that the decisions were not made in accordance with the regulation, acted upon the decisions, and disbursed the funds, thereby assisting Z.A. in obtaining unlawful property benefits totaling 62,530 denars, to the detriment of the budget of the Food and Veterinary Agency.