630,000 euros without legal basis subsidies, this is the work Paul Lekaj is accused of.

That is the accusation, which the current Minister of Infrastructure is tasked with by the Special Prosecutor of the Republic of Kosovo (PSRK), whose indictment has provided “Justice Vow”.

This prosecutor, on April 10, 2018, handed this indictment over to the Constitutional Court in Gjakova, in which Lekaj is charged with two criminal acts of abuse of official duty and embezzlement.

Former head of Gjakova, Pal Lekaj along with Ismet Isufi, Easter Syla, Bekim Syla, Teuta Mayzin and Dafina Thacin are charged that acting as Gjakova municipality officials have misused their official positions during the distribution of subsidies.

Paul Lekaj and Ismet Isufi are charged that during the 2008-2014 period, acting in the quality of official persons, the first in the quality of Gjakova municipality chairman, while the second as director of the Directorate for Agriculture, have distributed subsidies through the company “U n NION-VL”, contrary to the Public Finance Management Law.

The decisions issued by defendant Paul Lekaj cover only the amount of 235.400 euros, while other decisions have no legal basis amounting to the amount of 631.671.82 euros”, said among other things in the indictment.

Under the indictment, subsidies were authorised by the accused without supervision if the payments were made to farmers and having no contract with the company “U n NION-VL” with c. 40% of the over three thousand farmers have not even accepted payments that have been authorized to them.

Always according to the indictment, the accused has also passed legal competencies, because in addition to the funding for subsidies, those for subsidies have used other budgetary lines of the Gjakova municipality, causing it a possible damage of up to 250 thousand euros.

While defendants Pask Syla, Bekim Syla, Teuta Mayzini and Dafina Thaqi are charged that being in the quality of the chairmans and commission members for monitoring the distribution of subsidies, have compiled reports that if the distribution of subsidies has been done properly, though about 40% of the applicants have not accepted subsidies.

The six defendants are charged with these actions, at different times between 2008 and 2014, have consistently committed criminal acts of embezzlement during the exercise of office and misuse of official office or authority.

In this case, Veli Hajdaraga, who, according to the prosecution body, during the 2008-2015 period, has provided inaccurate information that if all the subsidies applicants have accepted subsidies and that he has allowed farmers who were on the list to receive subsidies to receive persons who were not right.

Indictee Hajdaraga, in addition to the criminal act of subsidies fraud, is also charged with avoiding tax duties of about 35 thousand euros, because according to the prosecution, he, with the intent to avoid paying taxes, has declared less income than those in reality for his company, “U n NION-VL”

The Special Prosecutor in the indictment has indicated that the number of farmers who had to be interviewed is over three thousand, so with a number of respondents it has been won the trend that 40% of the subsidies beneficiaries have not accepted them at all.

So the exact amount of damage caused by the farmers interviewed is, according to the indictment, about 70 thousand euros.

To establish this indictment, for the first time, he had reported “Justice Trust, where Paul Lekaj had then reacted through a writing on the social network “Facebook”.

Lekaj had said that his work at the helm of the Gjakova municipality has been carried out by law, adding that despite all, he will co-operate with the justice system in the country.

I'm reading in the media that law organs have filed an indictment for a case 10 years ago. All I can say for now is that in no case have I acted differently than in accordance with the law and in aid to the many citizens who have benefited from subsidies that the Gjakova Community has distributed. As I have been, I will continue to be in charge of duty to fulfill our obligations to our citizens and our country. Whoever the epilogue of justice organs is willing to respect it. But we won't stop at our job, no matter the pressure tendency”, Lekaj wrote.

Otherwise, Pal Lekaj, for two mandates, was the chairman of the Gjakova municipality from 2007 until 2013, when he had lost the race from Mimoza Kusari Lila.

After that, Lekaj had been elected deputy in the Kosovo Assembly by the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo ranks and had also exercised the post of head of the Parliamentary Group of this party.

After the last elections, he was named Minister of Infrastructure, at the Kosovo executive, which his party chief, Ramush Haradinaj, leads.