Construction entrepreneur from Berlin evaded millions to be a philanthropist in Serbia

(Patria) - Due to millions in tax evasion, a construction entrepreneur from Berlin, originally from Serbia, was sentenced to five years in prison and the confiscation of assets worth 20 million euros.

In Serbia, he presented himself as a philanthropist, reports Deutsche Welle.

- As the de facto director of a construction company, the convicted person caused damage of nearly 15 million euros through undeclared work - said presiding judge Kristin Klimke when pronouncing the verdict at the Berlin Regional Court on Thursday, July 17.

The 53-year-old, whose name or even initials German media have not disclosed, relied on undeclared work since the founding of the construction company.

- Although this is widespread in the construction industry, it cannot be said that he "stumbled into" it by accident - Klimke stated.

His goal from the beginning was to transfer as much money as possible to his homeland Serbia, in order to present himself as a philanthropist there, the judge explained, adding that the company paid salaries in cash and did not report them to the relevant authorities.

To justify the outflow of money, fictitious invoices were issued through subcontractors.

An employee from the convicted person's office was sentenced in the proceedings to a suspended sentence of eleven months, among other things for document forgery.

His son, who also worked in the company, received a warning.

In addition, the court also ordered the confiscation of approximately seven million euros in assets from the main defendant and 14 million euros from the construction company.

The judge also criticized the investigators. She pointed out that serious abuses had been uncovered, some of which were clearly systemic and violated basic procedural rules.

The Main Customs Office, contrary to regulations, analyzed the correspondence between the defendant and his defense attorney. There were also deficiencies in file management and possible breaches of official duty by officials.

- State representatives should actually follow the rules - Klimke concluded.