Kasa and Kasa 2 Cases: Caterers Evaded Tens of Millions of BAM

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The Municipal Court in Sarajevo extended the detention for another two months for Oleg Krautblatt and Ines Juretić, suspected of computer fraud in the "Kasa" case, confirmed for the Patria agency Azra Bavčić, spokesperson for the Sarajevo Canton Prosecutor's Office. They were initially placed in one-month detention after their arrest on March 21 due to the risk of flight, the possibility of influencing witnesses, concealing evidence, and repeating the criminal offense. Krautblatt and Juretić are suspected of selling special software called "Inspirit Gastro" to catering establishments throughout the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina entity, which allowed caterers to evade taxes by falsifying fiscal receipts. 

In the same case, well-known Sarajevo caterers were brought in who fully confessed to committing the criminal offense. For five suspects, Nedžad Rašidagić (Metropolis), Edin Vreta (Kibe Mahala), Željko Ljubas (Luka), Nejra Ibrović (Montana), and Šaćir Čedić (Vatra), prohibitive measures were imposed, including a ban on managing business operations, meeting with suspects, witnesses, or waiters, and a ban on approaching the premises. Prohibitive measures were also imposed on the owner of the Una restaurant, Bakir Hadžić. 

In mid-April, one-month detention was ordered for Edin Migić and Amela Ahmetspahić, the manager and manageress of the Metropolis catering facility, who were arrested as part of the continuation of the "Kasa" operation. Migić and Ahmetspahić are suspected of the criminal offenses of obstructing evidence and giving false statements.

From the Sarajevo Canton Prosecutor's Office, no details about the Kasa case. They state that the investigation is ongoing. It is currently unknown what amount of money was not reported to the Tax Administration and how much damage was done to the Budget of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. 

During the detention hearing, prosecutors pointed out that the Inspirit Gastro program was created in 2014. No one knows how much money was evaded over four years, nor the number of catering establishments that used the modified program based on the "short and long click" principle, which were not covered by the Kasa and Kasa 2 operations. 

Just a few days after the Kasa operation, SIPA carried out the Kasa 2 operation based on orders from the Basic Court in Sokolac and the District Public Prosecutor's Office in East Sarajevo. Searches were conducted at well-known catering establishments: the Toplik fishpond, Bob Exclusive restaurant, Cafe Bar Pegi Jahorina, Garden Sumbulovac restaurant in Pale, Maxwel Jahorina apartments, Vila Bela Jahorina, as well as the Pejović Accounting Service in Pale. Six persons were deprived of their liberty, suspected of committing the criminal offense under Article 264, paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code of Republika Srpska, „Tax and Contribution Evasion“, „Aiding“, and the criminal offense of „Computer Fraud“. The suspects are charged with reducing turnover and, based on that, filing false tax returns and paying lower taxes. The caterers confessed to committing the act.

Although the investigation is still ongoing and will reveal the extent of this financial fraud, it is unofficially stated that it involves tens of millions of marks. Those familiar with this case claim that it is at least approximately the amount that these establishments reported in past years.

We recall the case of the arrest of Adnan Mrkva, Amel Ćapin, Ermin Špilja, Adis Biberović, and Arif Malići for tax evasion amounting to 3.3 million BAM. This concerns the well-known chain of ćevapčići restaurants Mrkva, whose owners did not report actual turnover, thereby damaging the Budget of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and extra-budgetary funds in the period from the beginning of 2012 to the end of 2015.