The latest testimony in the Racket trial makes it clear that as Prime Minister, Zoran Zaev gave the group of suspected extortionists 20 days notice that they’re being followed, allowing them to cover up their tracks, said VMRO-DPMNE in its press release issued today.

The shocking testimony came from Bojan Jovanovski – Boki 13, a friend of Zaev and suspected accomplice of former Special ProsecutorKatica Janeva who is charged with extorting money from businessmen she was prosecuting. Officially, Zaev claims that he had no prior notice of the extortion and only heard about it when one of the main victims, businessman Jordan Orce Kamcev reported it to him. Afterwards, Zaev claims, he did not protect Janeva and Boki 13, but shared Kamcev’s allegations with state prosecutors on April 22 2019. But in court, Boki 13 testified that he met with Zaev in his 1TV television on April 3, and that Zaev then warned him that the racketeering actions were reported and that foreign intelligence services are following Boki and Janeva.

Zaev’s silence over these 20 days proves that he was the head of this criminal organization. Zaev used this period to try cover up the case, and to localize the damage to two or three accomplices who will receive reduced sentences, with the aim of protecting Zaev from the scandal, VMRO-DPMNE said in its press release.

Boki 13 has been that announcing he will reveal the true extent of the scandal for months, but his testimony earlier this week is the first time he directly pointed to Zaev’s involvement. VMRO-DPMNE has long claimed that Boki and Janeva would not have been able to extort anything on their own, without having high level political support coming from the top of Zaev’s Government. It’s estimated that they extorted about 20 million EUR from dozens of businessmen, and that most of the money ended up in Zaev’s SDSM party.