Will Kamcev buy his freedom with money?

Orce Kamcev, the businessman who was named by the renowned economic magazine Forbes as the richest Macedonian, bought a hospital, an agricultural plant, a dairy factory during VMRO-DPMNE’s rule, and now he probably ponders how to buy his own freedom in the investigative prison in Sutka.
Kamcev’s attorney Antonio Apostolski appealed on Saturday to the decision taken by the preliminary procedure judge, Vesna Dimiskova, who on Friday at midnight ordered Kamcev to be detained for 30 days.
The appeal filed by his attorney contests the two grounds on which he was detained, flight risk and the influence of witnesses. In the appeal, the lawyer did not offer a guarantee in cash or property, but does not exclude that in the future they could submit a guarantee with which Kamcev would basically buy his freedom with money.
Kamcev offered his passport as a guarantee that he would not run away and stated that he was a family man. His arguments about influencing witnesses is that the crime that he is being charged with was committed from 2002 to 2013, that is, 16 years ago. The last felony with which he is charged was committed five years ago and according to the appeal, Kamcev had enough time to destroy the documentation if he wanted to. Another argument to the defense is that the evidence in this case is based on the documentation, which either exists or does not exist, and practically no influence can be made on such a thing.
Legally, Kamcev has the opportunity to request release from custody with a guarantee because his detention is determined on two grounds, flight risk and influence of witnesses, while the third ground, a repetition of the act, has been omitted.
It is uncertain whether his guarantee will be accepted even if he offers one, since he has more grounds for custody, not just flight risk.
Defense appeals arrived in court yesterday, they were immediately sent to the competent prosecutor’s office for consideration, and after the Criminal Council gets an answer – it will make a decision.
Kamcev’s attorney asked the court to attend the public session, the court has the opportunity to accept his request, but is not obliged to allow the lawyer to attend the session.

On Friday morning, the Special Public Prosecutor’s Office began to search the home and the businesses of the businessman, and late afternoon he was questioned by a judge in a pre-trial procedure, and he was taken into custody later that evening. However, he did not allow journalists to see him either when he was in court or in the Sutka prison. Apart from Kamcev, Cvetan Pandeleski, ZK Pelagonija director and father of Pelisterka’s director, Dejan Pandeseski, Zorica Arsovska, accountant in the companies of Mijalkov, Nenad Josifovic, close associate of Kamcev and Todor Mircevski, director of the controversial offshore company Eksiko.
Apart from the five people who ended up in custody in the investigation of the case dubbed Empire, a total of 13 people were named as suspects – Kamcev’s mother and sister Ratka Kunoska Kamceva and Hristina Kamceva Stojceska, former Director of UBK, Saso Mijalkov, Liljana Gajdovska, Vladislav Stajkovic, Dejan Janev, Vance Mijalcev and Jovance Taskovski.
All of them are suspected of criminal association, damage or privilege of creditors, abuse of office and authority, fraud and money laundering and other proceeds of crime committed through the companies that they own.
In the meantime, the court temporarily seized part of Kamcev’s property and stopped the outflow of money from the accounts of the companies.
The Special Public Prosecutor’s Office requested temporary seizing of the property, and the court ordered temporary measures and prohibited the alienation and disposal of the shares of the companies for which there is reasonable doubt that a property benefit has been obtained with the criminal acts.
At the same time, the judge of the pre-trial procedure accepted the other proposals of the SPO and by decisions ordered several banks to stop the outflow of funds from the accounts of the legal entities in question.
According to previously published data Kamcev was or is the owner and shareholder in many companies. It was reportedly owned shares in the Acibadem Sistina Hospital in Skopje, but it has a significant share in the Zdravje Radovo dairy plant, the construction company Beton-Stip (engaged in the construction of the mega-project for antiquization of the capital Skopje 2014), Stopanska Banka – Bitola, Lozar, Pelisterka. According to the surveys of BIRN Macedonia, Beton-Stip has constructed seven buildings worth 55 million euros in the center of Skopje. In this company, as well as in Stopanska banka – Bitola, ZIK Pelagonija (which received 6.5 million euros of subsidies in just four years, and acquired management of 10,000 hectares of land), Zdravje Radovo is also a capital of the mysterious offshore company Eksiko.

Frosina Fakova – Serafinovic