INDICTMENT ISSUED FOR ILLICIT TRADE IN EXCISE PRODUCTS OF LARGER VALUE - ABOUT ONE TON OF TOBACCO

A Prosecutor of the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina has issued an Indictment against the following persons:

- JERKO TOMIĆ, born in 1984 in Mostar, a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Croatia, and
- DARKO POPOVIĆ, born in 1968 in Banja Luka, a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

According to the allegations in the Indictment, these accused persons are charged with transporting about one ton (more precisely, 1059.5 kg) of raw tobacco and tobacco products, for which they did not have the necessary excise or financial documentation, all for the purpose of obtaining unlawful material gain. The accused were discovered while transporting the tobacco, during a control carried out by the members of the Republika Srpska Ministry of the Interior.

These accused persons were transporting the thus seized tobacco which did not have excise stamps nor proof of origin, for the purpose of its further resale, and the mentioned tobacco is considered a tobacco product in terms of the provisions of the Law on Excise Duties in Bosnia and Herzegovina and therefore it must be marked with excise stamps before being put into circulation, in the manner prescribed by the tax legislation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The aforementioned accused persons are charged with the commission of the criminal offense of Illicit Trade in Excise Products, referred to in Article 210a, paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in conjunction with Article 29 and Article 26 of the same Code.

The Indictment has been forwarded to the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina for confirmation.