Former official indicted for defrauding Kosovo funds

Former official indicted for defrauding Kosovo funds

The indictment, which covers the period from January 2003 to mid-September 2005, accuses them of abusing official position and that of authorized persons and of accepting bribes, while engaged in the business of buying and building real estate.

In the order to conduct an investigation the prosecution in August 2014 launched a probe against Nebojsa Covic, former Secretary of the Coordination Center Andjelka Radenkovic, former chief of the Kosovska Mitrovica District Dragan Kalaba and owners of private companies Komgrap, Daki, and Masters. They are suspected of obtaining illegal material gains in the amount of about EUR 10 million.

According to N1, the prosecution suspects that while buying real estate in northern Kosovska Mitrovica, Covic, Radenkovic, and Kalaba, in agreement with the owners of the private companies, enabled illegal payments based on fictitious documents. According to the investigation order, the Coordination Center paid the company Daki almost 426 million dinars, which was used to buy only 18 properties and pay 181 million dinars. There is no valid documentation regarding the remaining 245 million.

Covic was questioned in early February 2015, as part of this investigation, when he, according to media reports, denied his guilt.

Covic in the past served as Belgrade mayor and was a deputy prime minister in the government of Zoran Djindjic. He also headed the government's coordination centers for Kosovo and Metohija and for southern Serbia.