The Department for Internal Control, Criminal Investigations, and Professional Standards at the Ministry of Internal Affairs submitted a criminal complaint to the competent Basic Public Prosecutor's Office for the prosecution of organized crime and corruption—Specialized Department for the prosecution of criminal acts committed by persons with police authority and members of the prison police against M.S., an officer in the Traffic Safety Department of the Skopje Police Directorate, who at the time of the offense was assigned to the Administrative Affairs Department in Skopje, due to reasonable suspicion that he committed the criminal offense of "abuse of official position and authority" under Article 353, paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code, and the criminal offense of "receiving a bribe" under Article 357, paragraph 2 in relation to Article 22 and Article 45 of the Criminal Code; P.P., an officer in the Intervention Police Unit of the Skopje Police Directorate, due to reasonable suspicion that he committed the criminal offense of "receiving a reward for unlawful influence" under Article 359, paragraph 7, in relation to paragraph 2, in relation to Article 22 of the Criminal Code, and the criminal offense of "receiving a bribe" under Article 357, paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code, in relation to Article 24 of the Criminal Code; V.R., employed as a teacher in a high school in Skopje, due to reasonable suspicion that she committed the criminal offense of "receiving a reward for unlawful influence" under Article 359, paragraph 7, in relation to paragraph 2, in relation to Article 22 of the Criminal Code; and A.S., employed as a firefighter in the City of Skopje, due to reasonable suspicion that he committed the criminal offense of "receiving a reward for unlawful influence" under Article 359, paragraph 7, in relation to paragraph 2, in relation to Article 22 of the Criminal Code.
The defendants, during the period from February to April 2024, collectively established a scheme by prior agreement, organizing and conducting procedures for the issuance of personal documents (identity card, passport, and driver's license) with the aim of obtaining unlawful financial gain. The third and fourth defendants found interested citizens in need of personal documents, who provided their personal data in the form of photographs to the third and fourth defendants, who then sent these photographs to the second defendant, P.P. The second defendant facilitated and intervened for the interested citizens to initiate the procedure for obtaining personal documents by encouraging the first defendant, M.S., who, as an official, performed actions of photographing and receiving applications as part of his regular job duties. The aforementioned actions were carried out based on a prior agreement for a specific monetary compensation with a clearly defined price, time, and method of execution, with clearly assigned roles, creating a parallel informal way of operating that allowed for quicker access to public services for a monetary fee, intending to acquire unlawful financial gain and violating the principle of equal access for citizens to public services.