Indictment for organized crime confirmed in the GIKIL Lukavac case

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The Municipal Court of Tuzla confirmed the indictment of the Cantonal Prosecutor's Office of Tuzla Canton against former members of the Supervisory Board and management of Global Ispat Koksna Industry (GIKIL) Lukavac in a case of organized crime related to corruption and economic crime offenses. The accused are Pramod Mittal, Rajib Das, Parameš Batačarija, Ivana Bunoza, Mate Pavković, Erna Mehmedović, Faik Buševac, and Vehid Mešić.

Pramod Mittal, as the leader of the organized crime group and founder and owner of the legal entity GSHL (Global Steel Holdings Limited-London), which had co-ownership in GIKIL, along with Das, Batačarija, Bunoza, Pavković, and Mehmedović, are accused of the criminal offense of organized crime in connection with abuse of position and authority, while former directors of GIKIL and Koksno hemijski kombinat (KHK) Vehid Mešić and Faik Bušovac are accused of the criminal offense of concluding a harmful contract.

The indictment covers actions related to the period from 2003 to 2019 in several segments: failure of the foreign investor, GSHL company, to fulfill contractual obligations in the amount of approximately 45 million KM in GIKIL, as well as the illegal extraction of money from GIKIL based on so-called external management contracts allegedly provided by GSHL to GIKIL, thereby illegally appropriating approximately 21 million KM for the purpose of illegally recovering the invested capital of the foreign investor GSHL.

Former managers in GIKIL and KHK, Mešić and Bušovac, are accused of the criminal offense of concluding a harmful contract, which was signed in 2004 and was contrary to the interests of the domestic member of the company KHK, as well as GIKIL in general, and based on which GSHL took over the absolute management structure in GIKIL, and GSHL failed to fulfill its contractual obligations to invest 45 million KM in the company.

Ivana Bunoza and Mate Pavković, members of the Supervisory Board of GIKIL since January 2017, and Erna Mehmedović, former secretary at GIKIL, are accused of becoming members of the criminal group, i.e., consciously acting to further acquire illegal property benefits for the group leader Pramod Mittal in the amount of 12.9 million US dollars, as well as for him to continue to maintain full control over GIKIL's assets despite being subject to measures prohibiting any business activities or official duties in GIKIL, but also to acquire benefits for themselves by enormously increasing their income and compensation for performing functions in GIKIL in 2019. Although they knew that liquidation proceedings had been opened against GSHL and that a permanent liquidator had been appointed who could solely represent GSHL, and also aware that Mittal was under investigation by the Prosecutor's Office as the leader of the organized crime group, in September 2019 they illegally convened a General Assembly of the Company, appointed a Supervisory Board, and made illegal decisions at Mittal's order, thereby further endangering GIKIL's operations, while also being aware that the Municipal Court of Tuzla had issued temporary measures prohibiting the implementation of the decisions of the General Assembly of the Company.

We remind that in July 2019, when they were apprehended, the Municipal Court of Tuzla ordered detention for Mittal, Das, and Batačarija. However, shortly thereafter, the court accepted the proposals of their defense attorneys and, instead of detention, accepted the offered bail in the total amount of 3 million KM.

The court also ordered a temporary measure to secure the property-legal claim in favor of GIKIL, based on which Pramod Mittal paid 11 million euros into a dedicated account for the benefit of the damaged company GIKIL, which is prohibited from being disposed of until the criminal proceedings are concluded.

Instead of detention, Mittal, Das, and Batačarija were then subjected to measures prohibiting them from undertaking any business activities and duties in GIKIL, membership in the Supervisory Board, or any other duties in GIKIL, and in case of violation of these measures, detention could be imposed again. These measures are still in effect today.

Mittal, Das, and Batačarija have not yet been questioned regarding the expanded investigation, and the indictment against them has only been filed for actions and circumstances for which they were previously questioned. In response to numerous summons from the Prosecutor's Office for investigative hearings over the past few years, the defense attorneys of these three accused have submitted medical documentation for them, justifying their absence. The medical documentation has been expertized multiple times, and the expert findings do not justify the absence of the suspects and their failure to appear at investigative hearings.

Given that the experts state that the mentioned health problems do not prevent their appearance at the investigative hearing, the Prosecutor's Office has proposed to the competent court that the bail measure for the three accused be revoked and realized in favor of the Budget of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and that detention be imposed on them again. One of the mechanisms to ensure their presence at the trial and subsequent questioning is that the indictment will be sent via international legal assistance, and not only through their defense attorneys in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Furthermore, the indictment proposes that, in relation to the secured property-legal claim in favor of GIKIL, the necessary evidence be presented and that the court, by its verdict, oblige the suspect Pramod Mittal and the legal entity GSHL to fully fulfill their obligations towards the damaged party, as determined by the secured claim, it was announced from the Prosecutor's Office of Tuzla Canton.