After a comprehensive investigation, a public prosecutor from the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office for Prosecuting Organized Crime and Corruption (PPO OCC) filed an indictment with the Basic Criminal Court against lawyer and former state attorney Fehmi Stafa for the crime of receiving a reward for unlawful influence.
Stafa was arrested in December while receiving EUR 50,000, which he was supposed to give to a judge from the Skopje Appellate Court.
“According to the indictment, the defendant, in the period from October to December 13, 2025, with the intention of obtaining unlawful property benefit, received a total amount of EUR 50,000 to mediate and use his real influence in order to intervene with a judge at the Skopje Appellate Court and, through bribery, to influence the performance of an official action that should not have been performed,” the statement from the PPO OCC reads.
Stafa was Ljupcho Pecov-Gjavolot’s defense attorney, and the money with which Stafa was caught was allegedly supposed to be paid to the judge of the Skopje Appellate Court, Gjoko Ristov.
Judge Ristov was arrested in January, when investigators discovered 350,000 euros built into the kitchen wall of his parents’ house. He was sent to house arrest, and Stafa has been in effective detention since his arrest, and the Public Prosecutor’s Office OCC is seeking an extension of the measure. Suspect Pecov, who is being tried in the “Chain” case, is also under house arrest.
