Indictment filed against six persons

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The Prosecutor of the Special Department for Organized Crime, Economic Crime and Corruption of the Prosecutor's Office of BiH has filed an indictment against Amir GUDŽEVIĆ, born in 1972 in Sarajevo, a citizen of BiH, Fatima ČOLAKOVIĆ, born in 1965 in Sarajevo, a citizen of BiH, Milorad MEDAN, born in 1984 in Ljubinje, a citizen of BiH, Boško VUKASOVIĆ, born in 1964 in Čapljina, a citizen of BiH and the Republic of Croatia, Daliborko NOVOKMET, born in 1973 in Ljubinje, a citizen of BiH, and Senad BEKRIĆ, born in 1968 in Doboj, a citizen of BiH.

The accused in the case codenamed "Pat" are charged with, with the intent to gain unlawful property benefit, in the period from July 15, 2016, to February 7, 2018, as members of a group of people, illegally acquiring, transporting, exchanging among themselves, storing, selling, and otherwise placing excise goods on the market in the territory of BiH – tobacco products that were not marked with control stamps.

As stated in the indictment, the accused, as members of an organized group, had precisely defined tasks in committing criminal offenses aimed at the illegal sale of excise goods.

The indictment states that the accused participated in the smuggling of large quantities of cigarettes and tobacco from the territory of Montenegro, and illegally distributed the goods on the black market in BiH, and stored and prepared them for smuggling into Slovenia.

In this way, the accused caused damage to the budget and citizens of BiH, and gained unlawful property benefit for themselves.

During the searches carried out, a large quantity of cut tobacco, various types of cigarettes without excise stamps, as well as mobile phones were found and temporarily confiscated.

The accused are charged with committing the criminal offenses of association for the purpose of committing criminal offenses under Article 249, in conjunction with criminal offenses: illegal trade in excise products under Article 210a of the Criminal Code of BiH, illegal storage of goods under Article 210b, smuggling under Article 214 of the Criminal Code of BiH.

The indictment has been forwarded to the Court of BiH for confirmation.