ON ORDER OF THE PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA, ACTIVITIES ARE IMPLEMENTED WITHIN THE OPERATION “ŠIŠA” DUE TO CORRUPTIVE CRIMINAL OFFENCES

The target of the operation codenamed “Šiša” /Hookah/ includes suspected ITA BiH customs officers and persons suspected of importing excise goods for a long period of time and presented in the relevant documentation that those were goods that were exempt from excise duty.

On order of a prosecutor of the Special Department for Organised Crime, Economic Crime and Corruption, BiH Border Police officers, in cooperation with officers of the Indirect Taxation Authority of BiH (ITA BiH) and the State Investigation and Protection Agency of BiH (SIPA), carried out field searches at a number of locations in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The operation covered 10 people, including several ITA BiH employees.

The persons under investigation are suspected of the criminal offences of Associating for the purpose of committing criminal offences under Article 249 of the Criminal Code BiH, in conjunction with the criminal offence of Abuse of position or authority under Article 220 and the criminal offence of Customs fraud under Article 216 of the Criminal Code of BiH.

Following the completion of the search, the prosecutor working on the case will make a decision on further activities against the suspects.

The Prosecutor’s Office of BiH, together with partner institutions and agencies, is working on cases in the fight against criminal offences of corruption, especially in the area where authorised officials in BiH institutions are suspected of corruption.