Stefan Bogoev Detained: A 20-Million-Denar Customs Tender, Four Under Investigation

The financial police and the Prosecutor's Office for Organised Crime and Corruption have detained Stefan Bogoev - former director of the Customs Administration, former deputy leader of SDSM and former mayor of the Municipality of Karposh. He isn't the only one: in the same operation, a total of four people were detained, among them Aleksandar Spirkoski from Prilep.

According to available information, the investigation concerns a 2023 Customs Administration tender for the cleaning and maintenance of border crossings and terminals, worth around 20 million denars. The searches were carried out under court orders, in homes, business premises and at several locations.

The prosecution says there are "grounds for suspicion that the acts were committed by officials and other persons who used their position, social standing and reputation to obtain unlawful material gain on a large scale." For now, apart from confirming the operation, there are no concrete details - a wording that in cases like this usually means more is to come.

And here's the question the citizen immediately asks: is this a real fight against corruption, or another political settling of scores wrapped in legal language? Bogoev is a man with a party biography, so the detention immediately took on a political colour - some shout persecution, others justice. The truth is the public has already seen both films: tenders that vanish without consequences, and arrests that end without a verdict. Which version it will be this time will be shown not by the press conference, but by the courtroom.