Three defendants in the case involving the forgery of driver’s licenses pleaded guilty and received prison sentences under an expedited procedure. The first defendant, an employee of the Ministry of Interior (MoI), was sentenced to two years and six months in prison, while the second and third defendants were sentenced to one year and three months. Detention has been extended for all three, officials stated during a briefing at the Skopje Basic Criminal Court.
The case involves unlawful entry of vehicle categories into driver’s licenses, as well as their issuance and use. The court clarified that the matter involved a formal indictment proposal; since no preliminary review of the indictment was required, a hearing was scheduled immediately. Three individuals remain unavailable to authorities, while a hearing was held yesterday for the three who were in custody; they pleaded guilty and were sentenced to prison.
On September 19, the Skopje Public Prosecutor’s Office (PPO) filed an indictment proposal against six individuals for the continuing criminal offense of document forgery, pursuant to Article 378, Paragraph 3, in conjunction with Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code. The primary defendant, a Ministry of Interior employee serving as a junior advisor for travel documents within the Skopje Administrative Affairs Department, repeatedly used her official access codes between September 2020 and August 2026 to alter driver’s licenses by adding unauthorized categories, the PPO says.
The other five defendants are drivers who, despite not having passed the driving test for categories C and D, colluded with the official to submit applications for driver’s licenses that included categories for which they did not meet the legal requirements.
For three defendants who are currently unavailable to law enforcement authorities, a proposal has been made to order their detention once located and to proceed with the case against them in absentia. As part of the same case, the Prosecution is continuing to gather evidence against another 21 persons suspected of acting as intermediaries or obtaining forged driver’s licenses, and the investigation also covers other potential abuses linked to the case.