Procurement of a luxury motor vehicle (known as the Tenk case)
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On 24 January 2017, the Special Prosecution Office (SPO) launched an investigation codenamed Tenk in which two people stood accused of abusing their official position and authority in the period from February to October 2012 to complete the illegal public procurement of a Mercedes-Benz 600, a luxury bulletproof car worth almost €600,000.
- Country
- North Macedonia
- Sector
- Public contracting
- Offence
- Abuse of official position or authority
- Phase
- 2nd instance verdict
Description of the case
On 24 January 2017, the Special Prosecution Office (SPO) launched an investigation codenamed Tenk in which two people stood accused of abusing their official position and authority in the period from February to October 2012 to complete the illegal public procurement of a Mercedes-Benz 600, a luxury bulletproof car worth almost €600,000.
On 29 June 2017, the SPO brought an indictment against three defendants: Gordana Jankulovska and Gjoko Popovski, who stood charged with the crime of abuse of their official position and authorisation, and Nikola Gruevski, who stood charged with the crime of accepting a reward for unlawful influence.
The prosecution found that during much of 2012 the third defendant Gruevski, while serving as prime minister, used his influence over the first defendant Jankulovska, who was then minister of the interior, and ordered her to carry out the public procurement of an expensive bulletproof vehicle of the Mercedes brand.
Jankulovska then instigated the second defendant Popovski to carry out the rest of the procedure and favour a certain economic bidder without adhering to the conditions of the tender. Popovski made the selection and the Ministry of the Interior issued a payment of almost €600,000 to the economic bidder Mak Auto Star DOOEL.
Although the public procurement was conducted to meet the needs of the Ministry of the Interior, the car was given to Gruevski, who wanted to use it for private purposes but did not want the public to know.
On 23 May 2018, the Basic Court Skopje 1 Skopje brought a verdict against two of the defendants. The second defendant Popovski was sentenced to six years and six months in prison, while the third defendant Nikola Gruevski was sentenced to two years in prison for inciting the crime.
On 8 October 2018, the Basic Court Skopje 1 Skopje found the first defendant Jankulovska guilty of the crime of abusing her official position and authorisation, and sentenced her to six years in prison.
The judicial shortcomings in the case are apparent in the time between the imposition of sanctions and their enforcement, which exceeded legal deadlines.
Specifically, the Supreme Court accepted a request from the first defendant Jankulovska to postpone her prison sentence, and sent the decision to the Criminal Court. The Criminal Court decided to postpone the decision until Jankulovska’s child turned 12 months old. Subsequently, the enforcement of the sentence was postponed again until the Supreme Court ruled on the extraordinary review of the final verdict. The prison sentence for Jankulovska was finally enforced on 28 September 2020.
Corruption offence
Abuse of official position and authorisation (Article 353 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of North Macedonia); Encouragement (Article 23)
Accepting a reward for unlawful influence (Article 359).
Other (non/criminal) laws breached
Law on the Prevention of Corruption
These laws have been breached insofar as they define the official duty and manner of work of the prime minister and other ministers.
Suspects' institutional affiliation
Government; Ministry of the Interior
Date of offending
Sector affected by the offence
Public contracting; Public finance
Related developments
All the suspects lost political power. Gruevski is no longer president of the VMRO-DPMNE political party and has fled to Hungary where he was granted political asylum.
Court
The Court of First Instance Skopje 1 Skopje; Skopje Court of Appeal; Supreme Court
Related domestic or foreign cases
The first defendant Jankulovska is involved in two other cases brought by the SPO: Titanic and Target/Tvrdina.
The second defendant Popovski was found guilty in the Trista case for abuse of her official position and authorisation, and sentenced to nine years in prison.
The third defendant Gruevski is involved in five other cases brought by the SPO: Traektorija, Titanic, TNT, Talir and Violence in the Municipality Centre in Skopje.
Current stage of the case in criminal procedure
Procedural history
On 24 January 2017, the Special Prosecution Office (SPO) launched an investigation codenamed Tenk in which two people stood accused of using their official position and authorisation in the period from February to October 2012 to complete an illegal public procurement of a Mercedes-Benz 600, a luxury bulletproof car worth €600,000.
On 29 June 2017, the SPO brought an indictment against three defendants: Gordana Jankulovska and Gjoko Popovski, who stood charged with the crime of abuse of their official position and authorisation, and Nikola Gruevski, who stood charged with the crime of accepting a reward for unlawful influence.
The first court hearing was held on 30 January 2018. At a main hearing held on 18 April 2018, the procedure for the first defendant Jankulovska was separated citing a risky pregnancy as grounds, while the trial for other two defendants continued with the presentation of evidence.
On 23 May 2018, the Basic Court Skopje 1 Skopje, as a first-instance court, brought a verdict against two of the defendants: the second defendant Popovski was sentenced to six years and six months in prison, while the third defendant Gruevski was sentenced to two years in prison for inciting the crime.
The defence filed a total of six appeals and two additions to the verdicts with the Skopje Court of Appeal.
On 5 October 2018, the Skopje Court of Appeal upheld the two-year prison sentence for the third defendant Gruevski and reduced the sentence of the other convict, Popovski, from six years and six months to four years and six months.
On 8 October 2018, the Basic Court Skopje 1 Skopje found the first defendant Jankulovska guilty of the crime of abusing her official position and authorisation, and sentenced her to six years in prison. Jankulovska’s lawyers filed appeals against the verdict. The Skopje Court of Appeal partially upheld the appeals and reduced her sentence to four years.
On 18 September 2020, the Supreme Court upheld the verdicts for all three defendants.
Obstacles
Two obstacles relate to one defendant’s flight from the country and another defendant’s successful request for postponement of her sentence.
The third defendant Gruevski fled to Hungary where he was granted political asylum and therefore cannot serve his sentence.
The Supreme Court accepted a request from the first defendant Jankuloska to postpone her prison sentence, and sent the decision to the Criminal Court. The enforcement of her prison sentence was postponed until the Supreme Court ruled on the extraordinary review of the final verdict.
Resolution of the case
On 23 May 2018, the Basic Court Skopje 1 Skopje brought a verdict against two of the defendants: the second defendant Popovski was sentenced to six years and six months in prison, while the third defendant Gruevski was sentenced to two years in prison for inciting the crime.
On 8 October 2018, the Basic Court Skopje 1 Skopje found the first defendant Jankulovska guilty of the crime of abusing her official position and authorisation, and sentenced her to six years in prison.
Applicable minimum and maximum penalty in the highest band for the
For abuse of official position and authorisation (Article 353, Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code) sentence is prison from six months to three years.
For accepting a reward for unlawful influence (Article 359), sentence is fine and prison from one to ten years.
Charges pressed by the prosecutor in the actual case
As the court of first instance, Basic Court Skopje 1 Skopje found the defendants guilty as follows:
- Gordana Jankulovska was found guilty of abuse of her official position and authorisation under Article 353, Paragraph 5, with regard to Paragraph 1 and Article 23 of the CC, and sentenced to six years in prison. The Skopje Court of Appeal reduced her sentence to four years.
- Gjoko Popovski was also found guilty of abuse of his official position and authorisation under Article 353, Paragraph 5, with regard to Paragraph 1 and Article 23 of the CC, and sentenced to six years and six months in prison. The Skopje Court of Appeal reduced his sentence to four years and six months.
- Nikola Gruevski was found guilty of accepting a reward for unlawful influence under Article 359, Paragraph 2 of the CC, and sentenced to two years in prison (see here)
Sanctions enforced
Gjoko Popovski is now serving his prison sentence.
The Supreme Court accepted a request from the first defendant Jankulovska to postpone her sentence, and sent the decision to the Criminal Court. The Criminal Court decided to postpone the decision until Jankulovska’s child turned 12 months old. Subsequently, the enforcement of the sentence was postponed again until the Supreme Court ruled on the extraordinary review of the final verdict. The prison sentence for Jankulovska was finally enforced on 28 September 2020.
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