The Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office Skopje is initiating proceedings against 43 individuals involved in defrauding citizens through “quick loans” by means of computer fraud, document forgery, and personal data abuse.

Four suspects, including a Health Insurance Fund official, are under investigation for document forgery, personal data abuse, and computer fraud, while the others are implicated in aiding and abetting these crimes.

The prosecutor’s office, in collaboration with the Ministry of the Interior-SVR Skopje, has gathered extensive evidence indicating that the suspects intentionally carried out multiple fraudulent acts since July 2022, aiming to gain property benefits.

The suspects allegedly used personal data without consent, falsified or altered public documents, and entered false data into the information systems of numerous “quick loan” companies. They also falsified electronic signatures to take out loans in victims’ names, creating repayment obligations for the victims.

Some suspects falsified employment data to present unemployed individuals as creditworthy, extracting money from credit companies. The Health Insurance Fund official allegedly provided an EZBO number obtained from the Fund’s electronic system to facilitate these activities.

The suspects used the false data to obtain multiple loans from different companies in a single day, withdrawing the money and often giving it to the organizers of the scheme.

The total illegally acquired property benefit from these actions exceeds three million denars.

The public prosecutor will request detention for three of the suspects, while the fourth is already in detention for another offense.