The Criminal Court in Skopje today sentenced the former general secretary of the government of North Macedonia, Drago Raskovski, to a single sentence of eight years in prison in a case in which he was accused of illegal procurement of software and payment of royalties.
Raškovski, who was the general secretary in the governments of Zoran Zaev and his close associate, was sentenced to seven years in prison for abuse of office and one year and six months for money laundering.
In addition to Raskovski, as reported by the local media, six other defendants in the case called "Software" received prison sentences ranging from three to eight years in prison.
The case of the disputed purchase of two software for biometric identification and determination of vehicle speed and imposition of fines, registration recognition cameras and metal cabins for that system was revealed in March 2021, and Raškovski was immediately dismissed.
The software for traffic violations and biometric identification, which no one used, was acquired by the General Secretariat headed by Raškovski, although he did not have the authority to do so.
In addition, according to the prosecution, the tenders were either rigged or there was no tender, and the company "Invoka Group", whose owner was sentenced to four years in prison, was favored.
In addition to the prison sentence, the first-instance verdict also stipulates joint and several damages to the state in the amount of 6,4 million denars for the procurement of software for biometric identification and almost five million denars for software for determining the average speed.
According to the second part of the indictment, which refers to author's fees, Raškovski concluded author's contracts with natural persons who did not perform their work duties, and who returned part of the money to him after collection.
According to the media, the court also decided that the defendants should reimburse the money that the General Secretariat of the Government paid them for fees, and the total damage, according to the court's assessment, amounts to 18.794.136 denars (about 305.000 euros).
Bonus video:
