On 5 November 2026, the Department for Suppression of Organised and Serious Crime within the Ministry of Interior, under the direction of a public prosecutor from the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office for Prosecuting Organised Crime and Corruption, carried out a coordinated police operation that dismantled a five-member organised criminal group from Kumanovo. Four individuals, D.P. (37), L.K. (73), M.K. (27) and D.Ž. (43), all from Kumanovo, were arrested, while Z.R. (35), also from Kumanovo, remains at large.
Today (6 November 2026), the Department for Suppression of Organised and Serious Crime filed criminal charges against all five individuals with the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office for Prosecuting Organised Crime and Corruption for the criminal offences of “Extortion” and “Money Laundering and Other Proceeds of Crime”.
During yesterday’s operation, searches were conducted at six locations in the Kumanovo area. The searches resulted in the discovery and seizure of loan agreements carrying unrealistically high interest rates, agreements concerning the notarisation of real estate transactions, a substantial amount of money, passenger vehicles, mobile phones and other electronic devices.
According to the information obtained so far, the suspect D.P. established a group in 2021 for the purpose of committing criminal offences. In one of the cases, with the intention of obtaining unlawful financial gain, D.P., together with Z.R., coerced a victim into taking actions detrimental to the victim’s property interests.
Specifically, during 2023, the victim requested a loan of EUR 4,000 from D.P. Under a verbal agreement, it was agreed that the loan would be repaid within one month, together with interest amounting to EUR 2,500.
Although the agreed amount was repaid in full, D.P. demanded that the victim allow their bank account to be used for fictitious deposits and withdrawals of funds. He subsequently began making threats and demanded that a passenger vehicle be provided as purported collateral for future fictitious debts, which were intended to serve as justification for the transfers of funds through the bank account.
Furthermore, according to the suspicions, on D.P.’s instructions, a fictitious vehicle sale and purchase agreement was prepared by a lawyer in Kumanovo, with the victim’s signature as the borrower being forged. Subsequently, another fictitious loan agreement for the amount of MKD 1,000,000 was prepared at the same law office and was also certified at the same notary office.
The fictitious vehicle sale and purchase agreement was presented as a genuine document, on the basis of which ownership of the vehicle was transferred to Z.R. and new registration plates were issued.
Regarding the alleged debt of MKD 1,000,000, enforcement proceedings were initiated on the basis of the forged document, resulting in the victim’s bank account being frozen.
In another case, a second victim borrowed a total of MKD 180,000 from D.P. on two separate occasions. Two loan agreements were concluded with L.K. and D.P. Although the victim repaid the borrowed funds to D.P., the latter demanded an additional interest payment.
