International arrest warrant for Artan Grubin and Parparim Bajram
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of North Macedonia has published international arrest warrants issued to former deputy prime minister Artan Grubi and former director of the State Lottery, Pëparim Bajrami, who are believed to have left the country.
The arrest warrants were issued on Wednesday by the Public Prosecutor's Office of North Macedonia, following the request of the Basic Court, which on December 17 also proposed a detention measure of 30 days for the suspects.
Grubi and Bajrami are accused of "embezzlement of illegal wealth" from the State Lottery, while the damage caused is estimated to be around 8.2 million euros.
According to the Prosecution, Grubi, as the second suspect in this case, enabled an illegal procedure for the supply of terminals, although he was aware that the State Lottery did not have authorization to organize electronic games of chance independently within the territory of Macedonia of the North.
The police raided the houses of Grub and Bajram days ago, but they were not found. Grubi, who on December 9 was blacklisted by the US for corruption, has denied the accusations of absconding, stating that he is abroad on a "private visit". He added that he informed his personal police security about this visit.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski has announced that Artan Grubi, together with a businessman, "left North Macedonia in the direction of Kosovo, on December 15, in a car with diplomatic license plates", and for Bajram, he emphasized that "for a it has been outside the territory of North Macedonia for a long time".
Otherwise, Kosovo and North Macedonia have an extradition agreement, which was signed in 2011.
Grubi, former deputy, now also former member of the Democratic Union for Integration (BDI), in the opposition, risks being sentenced to up to five years in prison if found guilty.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of North Macedonia has announced that on December 13, criminal charges were filed against six other persons, suspected of the crimes - "misuse of official position and authority", "taking bribes", and "misuse of the procedure for public calls, allocation of agreements for public supply or public-private partnership", in relation to the case of the State Lottery of North Macedonia.
Among the suspects are the former prime minister and former leader of the Social Democratic League of Macedonia (LSDM), Dimitar Kovačevski, as well as the former general secretary of the Government, Metodija Dimovski, who are accused of "misuse of official position and authority ".
