Eight individuals have been taken into custody, and criminal charges have been filed against 11 people and one private healthcare institution, following a recent operation by the Ministry of Interior.

The criminal charges were filed based on suspicions of “abuse of official position and authority,” “negligent performance of duty,” “falsification or destruction of business records,” “fraud in the performance of duty,” and “money laundering and other proceeds from a criminal offense.”

Today police officers from the MoI’s Department for the Suppression of Organized and Serious Crime—in coordination with the Public Prosecutor’s Office for Prosecuting Organized Crime and Corruption—conducted a police operation as part of an investigation into suspected illegal activities related to eye surgeries. The operation dismantled a criminal group that included both former and current officials of the Health Insurance Fund of the Republic of Macedonia. Acting on warrants previously issued by the Basic Criminal Court, police searched several locations in Skopje, as well as one location each in Tetovo and Kumanovo. Eight individuals were taken into custody, and during the searches, approximately 50,000 euros in cash and several mobile phones were discovered and seized, the Ministry of Interior reported.

It’s been reported that one of the key suspects is Den Doncev, a former head of the FZO healthcare fund under the Zaev regime.