U.S. Designates Businessman In North Macedonia For Sanctions, Citing Extensive Corruption

The United States has designated a businessman in North Macedonia for sanctions, saying he has “engaged extensively in corruption,” including money laundering, for more than a decade.

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on July 19 designated Jordan “Orce” Kamcev for “for being complicit in, or having directly or indirectly engaged in, corruption related to the Western Balkans.”

“Mr. Kamcev abused his position, engaging in corrupt activities and pursuing a self-serving agenda at the expense of North Macedonia’s democratic institutions and citizens,” said Undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson. “Treasury remains committed to holding perpetrators of corruption to account.”

Kamcev, a co-owner of a private hospital in Skopje and many other companies, was convicted in 2022 in a money-laundering scheme linked to an illicit land purchase. In a separate trial, he pleaded guilty to aggravated abuse of office after being accused of fraud, money laundering, and other crimes related to his businesses.

Kamcev also used his influence and wealth to manipulate North Macedonia’s judicial system in his favor, according to the OFAC, which cited the testimony of the head prosecutor of the Special Prosecutor’s Office (SPO), Katica Janeva, who in 2020 was charged with accepting a bribe from Kamcev.

She testified that Kamcev paid money in exchange for favorable arrest conditions and case outcomes, and Kamcev later sued her and others claiming they had extorted him. A Skopje civil court ruled that Kamcev was not a victim and was not entitled to compensatory damage, but in the aftermath of the scandal, the SPO collapsed and as a result many high-level corruption cases that the SPO had been considering remain stagnant and undecided.

As a result of the OFAC’s designation, any property, including bank accounts, that Kamcev owns in the jurisdiction of the United States are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. The designation also blocks U.S. individuals from doing business with him.