Kochani prosecutors charge nine in ‘Pulse’ case; brother of Skopje Criminal Court president among the accused

The Kočani Public Prosecutor's Office has filed an indictment against three people and a criminal proposal against six others over alleged bribery, abuse of office, disclosure of official secrets and document falsification tied to tax inspections at the Pulse nightclub in Kočani and related companies.

The charges are connected to the March 16, 2025 fire at the Pulse disco that killed 63 mainly young people and injured more than 200.

Among those named in the filings is Dragan Paunov, an inspector at the Public Revenue Office and the brother of Daniela Dimovska, president of the Skopje Criminal Court. Prosecutors say Paunov allegedly accepted bribes from club owner Dejan Jovanov and his son in exchange for advance warning of controls at the club and other businesses.

An indictment for the crime of Receiving a Bribe under Article 357 of the Criminal Code was filed against two tax controllers; one of them is accused of committing two such acts. According to the charges, they requested and received sunglasses and a wristwatch from Mihail Jovanov, who is accused in the case of Giving a Bribe under Article 358, to inform him about unannounced special inspections at companies where he was the responsible person.

"Although they were aware that, according to the law, they were not allowed to disclose information they had obtained in connection with a tax procedure, the first accused nevertheless informed the third accused via Viber messages about the actions of the Public Revenue Office and the Ministry of Interior regarding the named companies, thus committing the continuing criminal offence — Disclosure of an Official Secret under Article 360 of the Criminal Code," the Prosecution said when summarising part of the collected evidence.

The two tax controllers are also charged with Abuse of Official Position and Authority under Article 353 of the Criminal Code. Prosecutors say that during a control of the legal entity where the third accused was the responsible person, on 06.03.2024 they found tax irregularities and unregistered turnover but did not record the discovered violations in the report, causing a budget shortfall of 98,400 denars left as an unpaid fine.

To conceal those irregularities, the second accused is further charged with Falsification of an Official Document under Article 361 of the Criminal Code for falsifying the official inspection report.

In addition, a criminal proposal was submitted to the court against four more tax controllers and inspectors for Abuse of Official Position and Authority; one of them is also accused of falsifying documents. Prosecutors say an employee of the State Market Inspectorate committed Disclosure of an Official Secret by revealing when excise controls would take place.

The accused controllers and inspectors conducted tax checks at companies in which the sixth accused — identified as the real owner and father of the person charged with giving a bribe — appeared as the beneficial owner. The alleged irregularities were not recorded and inspection reports were falsified, meaning statutory fines were not imposed. The actions were allegedly aided by the real owner, Dejan Jovanov, who is the sixth accused in the case.

"The criminal complaint for acts of Abuse of Official Position included four additional persons, of whom proceedings for two were discontinued due to statute of limitations, while for two persons it was determined that they did not commit the acts in question or any other offence prosecuted ex officio," the Prosecution added.

The indictment and proposals now proceed to the competent court for further action.

Photo: SDK.MK)