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The Basic Public Prosecutor's Office for the prosecution of organized crime and corruption in North Macedonia is investigating the case of the online sale of cards with the image of the former American president, Donald Trump.
A week after the publication of an investigative article by Radio Free Europe, which published details of an online mechanism through which dozens of Macedonians, mainly from the city of Veles, benefited from money from American citizens, the prosecutor's office announced that it has launched preliminary investigations.
"It is a subject of great proportions. It was opened after an anonymous tip and that tip is being monitored financially. In fact, we are monitoring the financial flows of money. It is a very complex matter that includes a series of actions" , said the prosecutor's office.
She also mentioned the possibility of including international legal aid, but said that "we have not reached that stage yet".
"Currently, we have orders and when we get some results, we will enter the phase of international assistance. A part of this preliminary investigation is also related to the case that is already in the trial phase", added the prosecutor's office.
After several months of research, Radio Free Europe journalists discovered an online scam behind which are individuals from the small town of Veles in North Macedonia. They advertise fake products with the image of former US President Donald Trump, which they say will bring millions to "American patriots" after Trump is returned to power. But, in fact, on sale are completely worthless products, such as cards, coins, stickers and others. Radio Free Europe penetrated a closed Telegram group through which Macedonian "sellers" of fake debit cards communicated.
REL followed the digital trail, but two days after publishing the article, the content of most Telegram channels was deleted. At the same time, a large number of North Macedonian citizens who sold cards or coins with Trump's image also withdrew their products from the CopeCart platform, through which the sale was made. Veles, which has a population of just over 45,000, gained notoriety before the 2016 US election when global media revealed that more than 100 political websites were set up there, spreading fake news in in favor of Trump's policy.
The websites used content from extremely conservative blogs and promoted it through Facebook, generating millions of views per month. Now, through a new fraudulent scheme, a fictitious monetary system, called TRB (Trump Rebate Banking system), was advertised, with claims that people who own TRB products will receive multiple returns on the money they invest. The prices of fake cards that are sold reach the value of several thousand dollars.
The data of the Directorate of Public Revenue in North Macedonia show that, in the last two years, 98 individuals of Veles, aged up to 35 years, have reported income from the United States of America worth more than 11 million dollars. Most of these revenues are said to have been realized from marketing and internet services./ REL
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