Crime Everywhere: SIPA Investigates Tegeltija and Dodik

State police agencies have been investigating certain politicians from Republika Srpska for a long time. The opposition in RS claims that the fear of arrest is actually behind the cessation of cooperation with SIPA, the Court, and the Prosecutor's Office of BiH. Among those under investigation are Zoran Tegeltija and Milorad Dodik, reports the Patria News Agency.

State institutions of BiH have concluded the investigation against the Minister of Finance of Republika Srpska, Zoran Tegeltija. State prosecutors questioned Tegeltija in Banja Luka due to suspicions of several criminal offenses. The Minister of Security also confirmed that numerous investigations are nearing completion.

"The Court and the Prosecutor's Office will conclude some investigations, but it concerns serious theft of huge sums of money," said Mektić.

Zoran Tegeltija is implicated in several scandals in Republika Srpska. Among the most well-known is the case of Balkan Investment Bank, now Banka Srpske. This bank has recorded huge losses, and money has been laundered through it for years. All this happened while Tegeltija was the Minister of Finance.

The aforementioned Birac is one of the biggest scandals. Lithuanians took a billion marks out of this company, and Tegeltija, along with the current Prime Minister Željka Cvijanović, was presented as someone who uncovered criminal activities. In reality, the investigation into whether the authorities in Banja Luka, including the Minister of Finance, knew about the money laundering has never been completed. Tegeltija, along with Zoran Stevanović, lobbied for Gordan Pavlović to sign a contract with the Lithuanians and thus take over Birac.

Bobar Banka remains a mystery to this day. The damage caused by the bank's liquidation is estimated at 250 million marks, and it is still unknown where ten million marks from this bank have disappeared.

Department store Boska Banja Luka was sold to Dragan Đurić. Boska accumulated multi-million dollar debts, the privatization contract disappeared, and instead of Boska repaying its debt, Republika Srpska bought the department store's bonds for 15 million marks.

Emir Kusturica's Andrićgrad is known for numerous financial interventions by the Government of Republika Srpska, and the question remains how much of Andrićgrad's debt to the state has been overlooked. Competent institutions are aware of all these scandals.

The Prosecutor's Office of BiH confirmed that investigators are working on certain cases in which Zoran Tegeltija is also mentioned. They state that they cannot reveal details or comment in the interest of the investigation. Milorad Dodik, however, did comment, saying that SIPA will be prevented from entering the institutions of Republika Srpska if they try, but he did not specify how.

Dodik was asked a similar question on N1 earlier.

What if SIPA knocks on your door?

"They won't knock. Where would they knock? Let them knock, they won't be able to enter. I am protected. I am the president. Do you know what president means to Serbs, are you normal?" Dodik said at the time.

Milorad Dodik is also under investigation by the same institutions with which Republika Srpska has broken off cooperation. Some of these cases involve the scandals of a kilogram of gold and a villa in Belgrade, N1 reported.