On March 20, 2026, police officers from the Corruption Unit within the Criminal Investigation Sector of the Department for the Suppression of Organized and Serious Crime detained V.A. (41) from Kočani, and a criminal complaint was filed against him with the Basic Public Prosecutor's Office for Organized and Serious Crime due to reasonable suspicion of committing the criminal offense of "accepting a bribe" under Article 357 of the Criminal Code.
V.A., in his capacity as a public official, director of the State Inspectorate for Agriculture, sought a bribe of 100,000 euros from the owner of a legal entity engaged in import, indirectly through a freight forwarder, in order to perform an official act that he was not authorized to carry out. Specifically, the injured party was informed that the goods he was importing were prohibited from entry and that they needed to be returned, as they did not comply with the applicable legal regulations, and that a report had previously been prepared by the State Inspectorate for Agriculture. To ensure the import was carried out smoothly, the injured party was asked for 100,000 euros, which he was to deliver in three installments: one installment of 50,000 euros and two installments of 25,000 euros each.
On March 19, 2026, the transfer of the specified cash amount of 50,000 euros was executed as the first installment of the requested bribe, which was initially taken by the freight forwarder from the injured party, with the intention of later handing it over to V.A. After V.A. received the money, operational tactical measures and activities were undertaken, and based on issued orders, a search was conducted of a person, a vehicle, and luggage. During the search of the passenger vehicle, the money was found and seized from under the passenger seat.