Three officials plead guilty in fake driver's licence case, sentenced to prison
Basic Criminal Court in Skopje sentenced three defendants after guilty pleas; the probe concerns forged C and D category licences.
Three public officials who were charged in a scheme to issue forged driving licences pleaded guilty at the last hearing and were handed prison sentences, the court said at a briefing today.
Verdicts and sentences
The proceedings were against six defendants in total; three of them remain at large. The first defendant present was sentenced to two years and six months in prison, while the second and third present defendants received sentences of one year and three months each, court representatives said at a briefing in the Basic Criminal Court Skopje.
The case centers on illegal issuance and falsification of C and D category driving licences. An investigation carried out about ten days ago targeted documents issued for truck and bus categories.
The action followed an internal-control probe opened last month by the Internal Control of the Ministry of Interior, which found that administrative staff had been entering higher licence categories for people who had not passed the required tests for trucks or buses.
One employee of the Ministry of Interior had been removed from her post in 2021 after a criminal complaint alleging abuses in procedures for issuing identity documents. On 15 January last year she was returned to work on the basis of a court decision.
Meanwhile, custody measures for the suspects in the fake driving licence case have been extended, the court briefing added.
Photo: press material from the event
