Details of the large police operation: 23 people were questioned

Details of the large police operation: 23 people were questioned

In the Special Department for Suppression of Corruption of the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade, 25 members of two related groups suspected of money laundering were questioned.

They are suspected of multiple tax frauds related to VAT refunds, which damaged the budget of the Republic of Serbia by more than 246 million dinars.

Except for the three suspects who defended themselves by remaining silent, all the others presented their defense during the hearing, with 17 of them denying the commission of criminal acts, and five partially or fully admitting to the commission of criminal acts, the prosecutor's office announced.

After the hearing, the prosecution proposed to the judge for preliminary proceedings of the High Court in Belgrade to order detention for the 23 suspects.

The detention of the two suspects was lifted and they will defend themselves pending trial in the further course of the proceedings.

Three suspects are still being sought, and a total of 28 suspects have been arrested in this case by the order on conducting the investigation.

In the previous 48 hours, six deputy public prosecutors from the Special Department for the Suppression of Corruption conducted the hearings due to the large number of suspects.

The Prosecutor's Office also issued orders prohibiting the disposal of the suspect's real estate, a luxury vehicle, as well as an order prohibiting the disposal of funds from dinar and foreign currency accounts of the suspects and third parties connected to them.

The suspects are charged with the criminal offenses of Tax Fraud in relation to value added tax, unjustified obtaining and use of loans and other benefits, Money Laundering and Association to commit criminal offences.

The order to conduct investigation include S. P. (64), A.K (51), G.P. (43), M.Č. (38), Z.S. (54), S.P. (34), V.P. (52), R.Š. (50), S.S. (48), R.G. (50), Ž. Lj. (55), B.C. (61), D.P. (48), D.P. (29), I.P. (42), D.M. (62), M.P. (54), P.P. (47), M.R. (64), Lj.R. (43), S.P. (51), S.Č. (30), N.M. (29), G.B. (64) and T.F. (35), while three people are being intensively searched for.

As it is suspected, S.P. and another wanted person, as persons who manage several companies, organized a group from January 2021 to July 2022, with the help of suspected responsible persons and employees of those companies A.K, N.M, G.P, V.P, R .Š, S.S, R.G, D.M, S.Č, as well as with the help of suspected responsible persons of several companies B.C, D.P, I.P, D.P, D.M, M.P, P.P. and T.F. with whom the organizers of the group had fictitious business relations, as well as with the help of M.R., Lj.R. and S.P., who managed the business documentation for those companies, in order to show fraudulent sales of goods by means of false facts and the creation of invoices with untrue content.

As it is suspected, based on that, they submitted false tax returns to the Tax Administration and made an illegal return of VAT in the total amount of 246,002,930 dinars, thus damaging the budget of the Republic of Serbia.

Also, S.P. and A.K. are being suspected that on behalf of the company "Panatic sistem" d.o.o., on the basis of falsely created documents, they applied to the Development Fund of the Republic of Serbia for the procurement of equipment for the production and installation of concrete, which was approved for them, and which they then, as is suspected, used in purposes other than those for which they were approved, and thus damaged the budget of the Republic of Serbia in the amount of 58,521,980 dinars.

It is suspected that the suspects used the money obtained from the illegal return of value added tax and from an unjustified loan for the purchase of apartments, business premises, expensive vehicles, technical goods, as well as for their own needs, in a total amount of more than 117,500,000 dinars, and, in that way, they committed the crime of Money Laundering.