Criminal Charges Filed against GROM Leader Jakimovski for Abuse of Office

Former mayor of Skopje’s Karpos municipality Stevco Jakimovski was charged Wednesday with abuse of office and authority. Jakimovski, along with four other former co-workers of his, are charged of abuse of office, under suspicion of misusing their position to allow two companies to acquire wrongful gains estimated at 595,000 euros, thus damaging the budget of the Municipality of Karpos. A motion has been also filed to a court to order precautionary measures against the suspects, including an obligation to report to authorities and to hand over their passports. Late on Tuesday, the Financial Police searched several facilities owned by the Jakimovski family in Skopje, with Jakimovski claiming the action is mere ‘political revanchism’ against him by the people in power. Jakimovski was taken for interrogation at a court in Skopje, after which he spent the night in custody.