INDICTMENTS ISSUED FOR ORGANIZED CRIME, MONEY LAUNDERING AND TAX EVASION OF BAM 350,000; 9 NATURAL PERSONS AND 2 LEGAL ENTITIES - COMPANIES INDICTED

Indictments relate to illegalities in the import of textile goods from Turkey, and the evasion of VAT causing damages to BiH budget and all BiH citizens.

Prosecutor of the Special Department for Organized Crime, Economic Crime and Corruption issued an indictment against the following persons:

-   Ekrem Gonjanin, born in 1962 in Novi Pazar, Serbia,

-   Nevzat Berović, (Nevzat Berovikj) born in 1977 in Skopje,

-   Ante Ibralic, born in 1954 in Tuzla,

-   Sulejman Brković, born in 1952 in Tuzla,

-   Asim Alagic, born in 1963 in Tuzla,

-   Azem Kurtanović, born in 1967 in Tutin, Serbia,

-   Hazem Pavitinović, born in 1987 in Tuzla,

-   Armin Poplata, born in 1975 in Doboj,

-   Dževat Berović (Djevat Berovikj) born in 1974 in Batinci, Macedonia, (charged with a separate indictment),

-   Company "Alper Trade" doo Dubrave, Brčko district,

-   Freight forwarding company "Arbelšped" doo Sarajevo.

The accused are charged with having, while acting as an organized group of perpetrators during the import of textile goods from Turkey in the period from 2015 to 2017,  committed a series of illegal activities related to production of fictitious documentation in order to evade VAT calculation and payment, and with having used the fictitious documentation to illegally obtain VAT refund from the ITA BiH, after which the director of the company "Alper Trade" used the money so obtained in the regular financial transactions thus committing the criminal offense of Money Laundering and acquiring unlawful property in the amount of BAM 348,902,00 which is the amount of damages caused to the budget and thus all citizens of BiH.

The Prosecutor’s Office of BiH has formed a joint investigation team, composed of employees of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH, SIPA, Border Police and ITA BiH, and has conducted a comprehensive several month long investigation within the operations codenamed "Truck" and "Bonus", within which in May this year arrests and searches were carried out on a number of locations in several towns in the northern part of BiH and Sarajevo and during which a truck of goods was seized.

For the three suspects, who are currently in custody, the prosecutor’s office will request an extension of remand in custody, and for other suspects appropriate prohibiting measures, to ensure that they do not to interfere with the proceedings.

The accused are charged with the criminal offense of Organized Crime referred to in Article 250 of the Criminal Code of BiH, criminal offense of Tax Evasion or Fraud referred to in Article 210 of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the criminal offense of Money Laundering referred to in Article 209 of the CC BiH

During the proceedings, the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH will seek the return of assets in the amount of about BAM 350,000,00.

The Prosecutor’s Office of BiH, together with law enforcement agencies, is working on several cases related to criminal offenses of tax evasion and financial crime, and this particular case is an indicator of the efficient work of joint investigation teams.