The “Total” case of the former Special Public Prosecutor’s Office(SPO), which concerns tax evasion by journalist Dragan Pavlovic-Latas and three legal entities, has ended. The Basic Criminal Court in Skopje has announced that a verdict has been issued dismissing the charges in the case after the competent public prosecutor dropped the indictment in its entirety.
The verdict, as reported by the Skopje Basic Criminal Court, was issued on May 27, 2026.
“In the specific procedure, which has been conducted in this court since October 2017, D.P. – L. as a natural person, and three legal entities from Skopje are accused of the crime of Tax Evasion. The case was started from the beginning several times due to a change in the jurisdiction of the public prosecutor and the transfer of the case from one prosecutor’s office to another, only to have the competent Public Prosecutor, in his closing statement, abandon further prosecution of the defendants at the last hearing. The prosecutor, taking into account the allegations in the expert report and opinion, first made amendments to the indictment, after which he determined that for two of the accused legal entities in the procedure, the elements that make up the legal description of the reported crime – Tax Evasion, were not met, while for one legal entity and the defendant D.P. – L., the absolute statute of limitations for criminal prosecution had in the meantime occurred. Because of all this, the court acted in accordance with the legal provisions and rendered the aforementioned verdict,” reads the press release issued by the Court.
The verdict returned on June 25, 2026 is final and decisions on the parties’ costs have already been prepared, and as soon as it is finalized, it will be published on the court’s website, as indicated by the Criminal Court.
