English
Criminal charges were filed against notorious former Interior and Foreign Minister Ljubomir Frckoski and three diplomats in the Macedonian mission in the United Nations. Frckoski is accused that, as Ambassador to the UN appointed by the Zaev regime, he caused financial damages of over 100,000 USD.
The scandal begins with the sale of property owned by former Yugoslavia in New York, which meant almost 4 million USD were transferred to the account of the Macedonian mission. Frckoski kept over 58,000 USD on the account of the mission – despite instructions to transfer the entire sum to the Ministry.
He used these and other funds to cover various expenses that surpassed his authority – advance payments for trips, rental payments, double billing for phone plans and unaccounted expenses from the account of the mission have all reached over 116 thousand dollars.
Frckoski, a law professor who helped write the Constitution, is notorious for his role as Interior Minister during the murky days of independence, which included rampant smuggling and take-over of public companies by politically connected oligarchs. He was accused by former Parliament Speaker Stojan Andov of involvement in the assassination attempt on President Gligorov in 1994, and was lustrated for abuse of the secret service to go after political opponents. Failed SDSM presidential candidate in 2009, he was refused by the US when Zaev nominated him as ambassador to Washington, so he had to settle for the post in New York.
