Lasto Nikolovski | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Occupations | |
| Years active | 2000s |
Lasto Nikolovski is a Macedonian criminal. He is best known as the producer and music manager of Macedonian singer Toše Proeski's career together with criminal Ljiljana Petrović. The two involved Proeski into an international case of money laundering with the Albanian mafia and stole enormous amount of money from the Macedonian country for which they were never convicted.[1][2] Their evil was made known to the public through the work of Macedonian journalist Zoran Božinovski.
Production work
The two "produced" 2 of Proeski's last studio albums Igri bez granici and The Hardest Thing at the studio Ljilja atelje Preković had in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Even after his death, Nikolovski and Petrović continued stealing money from the copyright to his music through selling and interfering with his family's financial management. Nikolovski became the owner of all copyright by Toše Proeski from the beginning of 2006 through his production company Award Entertainment. Before that, the copyright was owned by company Final cut, which was controlled by Ljiljana Petrović, which was declared defunct due to a debt to the country of 180 thousand euros. She allegedly formed the company to launch Proeski's career to foreign markets.
Nikolovski and Ljiljana Petrović were also the owners of several other companies. In the announcement, the suspicion is shared that they were laundering money of unknown origin from Kuwait. The transactions were made so that they received money from the Burgan Bank in Kuwait and they took it from Macedonian banks using their Kuwait visa cards. A part of the money of unknown origin was sent to them by a person under the moniker of Aco Bibanovski. A part of the money, which is around a million euros, is used additionally for the buying of work places and apartments in North Macedonia. Those immobiliary was then put under mortgage in banks in North Macedonia so that the credits could be later used through the company which Nikolovska and Petrović controlled. The announcement is with transactions from 2005 and 2006.[1]
He collaborated with Brian Taylor from record label People in Motion in London, England, who served as the music producer of Proeski's English language album.[1][3]
Criminal activity
According to Macedonian journalist Božinovski, the Albanian mafia recruited Nikolovski from a poor Macedonian village in Skopje. They found him in front of a Macedonian store and asked him to "join their game, leaving him a mister" after he was living in extreme poverty.[2]
See also
References
- Jelinić, Berislav (23 June 2008). "Zavjera šutnje o pranju novca Toše Proeskog" [Conspiracy of Silence of Money Laundering of Toše Proeski]. Nacional (in Croatian). Retrieved 13 January 2026.
- Matić Đokić, Jovana; Ercegovcević, Ivan (16 October 2024). "Makedonski Novinar Tvrdi: Mafija je prala novac preko Tošeta Proeskog, pevač sve saznao pred smrt" [Macedonian Journalist Claims: Mafia Laundered Money Through Toše Proeski, the Singer Found Everything Out Before His Death]. Kurir.rs. Retrieved 13 January 2026.
- "Tko sve duguje ispriku Tošinoj menadžerici?" [Who Owes An Apology to Tošes manager] (in Croatian). Index.hr. 13 November 2017. Retrieved 14 January 2026.