Following the latest round of revelations in the major racketeering scandal that enveloped Zoran Zaev’s Government, the opposition VMRO-DPMNE party insists that it is unimaginable that a few low level people were able to extort millions from businessmen without the political backing of the ruling SDSM party. Only two people have been charged and detained so far – Bojan Jovanovski – Boki 13 and Zoran Mileski – Zoki Kicheec, despite allegations that a number of top SDSM party officials and Special Prosecutor Katica Janeva were deeply involved.
Mayors, ministers, prosecutors, judges. For two years they engaged in deals with Bojan Jovanovski – Boki 13, a person with multiple convictions for fraud and financial crimes. Boki 13 could not have extorted money without the backing of the Government. Zoran Zaev, Radmila Sekerinska, Frosina Remenski, Kostadin Kostadinov. One way or another, they are linked to the racketeering that amounted in the millions. Half of the Zaev Government and the SDSM party were involved in Boki 13’s International Association, an organization used for fraud and to divert the proceeds from money laundering. It is unimaginable that the Prime Minister didn’t know who his ministers and mayors are dealing with, said VMRO-DPMNE spokesman Naum Stoilkovski.
Stoilkovski listed the several relatively modest criminal cases in which Boki 13 was sentenced for fraud – one case worth 50.000 EUR in 2010, another when he took a few thousand from a woman from Skopje, his sentence for refusing to pay for a stay in a luxury hotel in Belgrade billed to one of his “charities”… Boki 13 is now charged with extorting 1.5 million EUR from a businessman he allegedly promised to help get out of a money laundering charge, and new victims are stepping up daily.
Journalist Branko Geroski, who had inide knowledge into the investigation against Boki 13, called out the powerful number two in the SDSM party Radmila Sekerinska to explain her ties with people who worked with Boki 13 and helped hm in his racketeering. An in-law of Sekerinska is member of the International Association, Geroski writes.
It could be just a coincidence. Still, given these unfortunate circumstances, I believe that Sekerinska owes us an explanation, Geroski adds in his latest editorial, where he is at pains to insist that Zaev likely knew nothing about the crimes being perpetrated by the group involving Boki 13, but adds that he should have “asked around”.
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