Glasses and a Wristwatch for a Tip-Off: Nine Charged Over Tax Inspections at the "Pulse" Nightclub

Nine police officers are already on trial over the operating permit for "Pulse", the nightclub in Kočani, accused of approving it without proper checks. Now prosecutors are also explaining why state inspections there never ended in fines: according to the indictment, they were leaked in advance - and the tip-offs were paid for with a pair of glasses and a wristwatch.

After almost a year of investigation, the Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Kočani filed an indictment against three people and a charge proposal against six more. The offences are bribery, abuse of office, disclosure of official secrets and forgery, all linked to inspections by the Public Revenue Office (UJP) at Pulse and at other related companies.

How the scheme worked

According to the indictment, two tax inspectors requested and received a pair of glasses and a wristwatch from a third person, who is charged with giving a bribe. In return, he got information: when the unannounced extraordinary inspections would arrive at the companies where he was the responsible person. One of the inspectors kept him informed via Viber messages about the activities of both the UJP and the Interior Ministry, knowing full well that the law prohibited him from disclosing such information.

During an inspection on 6 March 2024, the two found tax irregularities and unregistered turnover, but none of it went into the report. The budget lost out on a fine of 98,400 denars. To cover it up, the second inspector, according to the indictment, forged the official inspection report.

That's not all. A charge proposal was also filed against four more tax inspectors and inspectors for abuse of office, one of them also for forgery. An employee of the State Market Inspectorate, according to prosecutors, revealed when excise inspections would take place. The inspections targeted companies whose real owner is the sixth defendant - the father of the person charged with bribery - who, according to the indictment, was helping them himself.

Who got away

The criminal complaint covered four more people. For two of them, the case was dropped because the statute of limitations had expired. For the other two, prosecutors found no criminal act. The statute of limitations running out in a case linked to Pulse - that is a sentence everyone who claims the institutions work should hear.

According to media reports, one of the accused inspectors is the brother of the president of the Basic Criminal Court in Skopje. The key evidence, according to media reports, is an extensive Viber correspondence. As early as last September, the Investigative Reporting Lab published a documentary with messages between the venue's owners and inspectors from the UJP and the State Market Inspectorate, obtained from a whistleblower.

So the conversations had been public for more than a year. How many other venues in the country have been "inspected" the same way - and who will check before the next tragedy?