GRAS Squandering Under Scrutiny by Prosecutors, Anti-Corruption Office Did Its Job

SARAJevo, (Patria) - The Sarajevo Canton Office for Combating Corruption and Quality Management (KS) has filed a criminal complaint with the Cantonal Prosecutor's Office against a number of former members of the Management and Supervisory Board of the public transport company, as well as against certain former line ministers.

The Office for Combating Corruption and Quality Management of Sarajevo Canton explains that in the past period, they acted upon the conclusion of the Government, which tasked the Office and the Budget Inspectorate of the Ministry of Finance with preparing information on the non-payment of legally prescribed obligations in GRAS for value-added tax payments from 2011 to 2018, then from 2009 to 2016, as well as obligations arising from employee lawsuits based on the collective agreement in the period from 2006 to 2016.

The Office states that they have obtained a large number of relevant data and information from competent authorities and institutions, and have reviewed and analyzed the documentation. They say that this is a complex and extensive case, so the verification process took a considerable amount of time.

- After a detailed analysis of all documentation and data in the case, the Office has come to findings that reasonably indicate the existence of suspicions of committed criminal offenses and their possible perpetrators – it was stated to Birn from the Office, adding that criminal complaints have been filed against more than 50 individuals.

The Cantonal Prosecutor's Office in Sarajevo confirmed that they have received a criminal complaint against several individuals for alleged negligent economic operations in the GRAS company.

- The allegations in the complaint will be investigated to determine if there are elements of a criminal offense – the Prosecutor's Office stated in its response.

The Office for Combating Corruption also points out that, due to irregularities observed in areas regulated by the legislation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, they have also filed a criminal complaint with the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina concerning GRAS. The Prosecutor's Office of BiH had not responded to the inquiry about this complaint by the time of publication, writes BIRN BiH. 

The Cantonal Prosecutor's Office in Sarajevo confirmed that they received the report on January 10 and are working on verifying the allegations related to the Public Utility Company “City Transport” Sarajevo (GRAS).