Prosecutor's Office of BiH to Conduct Financial Investigation into Money Flow Benefiting Nenad Nešić, Defense Disputes BiH Court Jurisdiction

(Patria) - A hearing was held at the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina for three suspects, Nenad Nešić, Mladen Lučić, and Milan Dakić, following the Prosecutor's Office of BiH's motion for a one-month detention period. Nešić is the current Minister of Security of BiH, Mladen Lučić is the owner of the company Legend, and Dakić is the director of the company Putevi RS, which Nešić headed from 2016 to 2020. Given that today's hearing was postponed due to Nešić's health condition, judge Biljana Ćuković asked Nešić if he could follow the hearing.

“I felt unwell this morning, I just came from the Clinical Center. They told me to stay, I have high blood pressure, but I insisted on coming. I took several pills,” said Nešić, who left the hearing for the restroom several times.

The acting prosecutor, Bojana Jolović, stated in the motion for detention the criminal offenses for which Nešić, Lučić, and Dakić are suspected, and explained how money was being siphoned from Putevi RS through tenders for road maintenance and road construction companies that were awarded road maintenance contracts, which was then paid into the accounts of individuals, with fictitious invoices issued by legal entities. This money ended up with the then director of Putevi RS, Nenad Nešić. Nešić is suspected of the criminal offense of association for the commission of criminal offenses under Article 249 of the Criminal Code of BiH, abuse of official position or authority (Article 315 of the Criminal Code of RS), and receiving bribes (Article 319 of the Criminal Code of RS), as is Lučić, while Dakić is suspected of abuse of official position and receiving bribes.

She stated that the case dates back to 2019 when the Financial Investigation Department of SIPA reported suspicious transactions from Romanijaputevi to the accounts of Esad Avdić.

“The Prosecutor's Office determined that the transactions originate from fictitious legal entities connected to Sanjin Avdić and that money was transferred from Romanijaputevi accounts to Esad Avdić. The Prosecutor's Office suspected Avdić of the criminal offense of association for the commission of criminal offenses and money laundering, all in connection with various criminal offenses from the Criminal Code of FBiH and the Criminal Code of RS committed in the territory of both FBiH and RS, and that money was siphoned for the benefit of legal entities and returned to those entities and individuals they designated. An order was issued to banks, extensive documentation was collected, and the Prosecutor's Office of BiH expanded the investigation to include several legal and natural persons,” said prosecutor Jolović.

Among these legal entities is the company Romanijaputevi RS. 300,000 KM was paid from Romanijaputevi accounts to Avdić, and a portion of 87,000 KM is still blocked.

After the investigation was opened, Sanjin Avdić was interviewed and admitted that he had contacted the director of Romanijaputevi, Mirko Pandurević, and that the director told him he had received a tender worth 2 million KM, but needed a legal entity to siphon the money to give to Nenad Nešić.

During November and December 2024, the Prosecutor's Office of BiH, together with the Ministry of Internal Affairs of RS, conducted special investigative actions, telecommunications surveillance, spatial surveillance, and covert surveillance of individuals.

Prosecutor Jolović emphasized that according to the testimony of the suspect Mirko Pandurević, Nešić received 250,000 KM annually, totaling one million KM over four years.

Incidentally, as the Prosecutor's Office explained in the motion for detention, money was siphoned from the public company Putevi RS, of which Nešić was then director, by Pandurević, the director of Romanijaputevi, who received a road maintenance contract.

According to the Prosecutor's Office, Pandurević, as he admitted in his testimony, had to return ten percent of the agreed two million KM contract to Nešić. Such an agreement was reached in 2016 when Nešić became the director of Putevi RS, and he told Pandurević to return 10% of the collected costs from Putevi RS, stating these were "costs in such a business relationship," and that if he did not comply, payments to Romanijaputevi from Putevi RS would be delayed.

Regarding Pandurević, during special investigative actions, it was determined that Pandurević instructed employees of Romanijaputevi on how to give statements if called to the Prosecutor's Office of BiH.

The prosecutor claims, as also shown by special investigative actions of telecommunications surveillance, that Nešić's accomplice was Mladen Lučić, who allegedly received a bribe of 185,000 KM.

In one conversation Pandurević had in his office, he said:

“Nešić organized everything through Lučić Legend. My job is to pay, and they handle the rest,” prosecutor Jolović read.

It was Pandurević who called Lučić to discuss what to do because invoices were being issued by legal entities, while payments were being made to individuals Esad and Sanjin Avdić.

The Prosecutor's motion stated that Lučić and Pandurević discussed the Prosecutor's Office of BiH's investigation.

“This all indicates that these individuals, Pandurević, Nešić, and Lučić, formed a group and committed the criminal offense of association for the commission of criminal offenses,” stated the prosecutor.

The prosecutor emphasized that Lučić played the role of an accomplice and received the money in November 2019 at the Hotel Espana in Lukavica.

The siphoned money was left in Nešić's office as director of Putevi RS, in restaurants, at Jahorina in catering facilities, in openly parked cars in parking lots, as Pandurević stated in his testimony.

Regarding the suspect Dakić, the current director of Putevi RS, it was also determined that he himself siphoned money from this public company through Pandurević, which was confirmed in a conversation covered by special investigative actions conducted in November and December of this year by order of the Court of BiH. Specifically, the conversation took place on December 11, and the content of the conversation shows that money siphoning continued, albeit in a different manner.

Dakić told Pandurević that he would increase the amount from 400 plus VAT to 500 plus VAT, and the Prosecutor's Office points out that there was an unjustified increase in the invoice by 100,000 KM because people need to be treated. The Prosecutor's Office states that the payment did not occur, but the obligation of the company Putevi RS towards Romanijaputevi remained because the invoice was received.

Dakić is also suspected of receiving gifts from Pandurević in the amounts of 10,000, 15,000, and 20,000 KM during 2023 and 2024, in his capacity as director of Putevi RS, in order to approve invoices for Romanijaputevi.

The Prosecutor's Office emphasized that detention was requested due to the risk that the suspects might conceal evidence, influence witnesses, and accomplices.

Prosecutor Jolović announced the interrogation of employees of Putevi RS, other road construction companies from RS, claiming they acted similarly to Romanijaputevi to remain in the market.

The prosecutor emphasized that Nešić, even from his position as Minister of Security of BiH, could influence these individuals to reduce his own culpability.

Regarding Mladen Lučić, the prosecutor pointed out that during 2019, road construction companies in RS received instructions from Nešić to procure industrial salt from the company Legend, owned by Lučić, and that Lučić could influence these road construction companies.

Speaking about Milan Dakić, the prosecutor stated that certain documents were backdated; for example, documents from November were dated August 15, which confirms the suspect's intention to conceal evidence.

The prosecutor announced the interrogation of a larger number of individuals involved in the commission of these offenses, as well as the conduct of a financial investigation that will reveal the flow of money benefiting Nenad Nešić and individuals known to him.

Nenad Nešić's lawyer, Senka Nožica, raised an objection to the jurisdiction of the Court of BiH in this case, stating that the criminal offenses fall under the Criminal Code of RS.

She challenged the credibility of Sanjin Avdić's testimony, stating that he is a person who has been arrested multiple times, a fraudster, and an obscure figure, and that the Court cannot place faith in such a character, and that his statement does not indicate that he knows Nešić.

Regarding Pandurević's testimony, Nožica pointed out that he justifies his illegal actions through Lučić and Nešić, and that he has not named anyone to whom he allegedly gave money, nor has the Prosecutor's Office interviewed anyone on these matters.

“There is no reasonable suspicion of the crimes committed by our client, and everything is based on two witnesses who are both suspects. All these actions were carried out in 2019, and the conversations took place in 2023 and 2024. The conspiracy the prosecutor describes cannot be a reason for ordering detention,” said Nožica.

Nešić agreed with his defense attorney's statement and declined to add anything further.

The defense of Mladen Lučić, lawyer Dejana Šućur, also disputed the jurisdiction of the Court of BiH.

She stated that her client offered to undergo a polygraph test, but the Prosecutor's Office of BiH refused. She added that he has known about the investigation for a year, as he is a witness in another proceeding.

“And now my client is dealing with industrial salt. He has a well-established business, and the Prosecutor's Office should have verified that. It is a sweeping generalization to say he will influence witnesses, and whether those witnesses even exist. If he had intended to do anything, he had a year to do whatever he wanted. Two financial investigations have already been conducted on my client, and those investigations found nothing incriminating,” said the lawyer.

The defense of the third suspect, Milan Dakić, lawyer Petko Budiša, also challenged the jurisdiction of the Court of BiH in this case, as well as the testimonies of the two suspects.

“The accused have the right to defend themselves, to shift blame, and even to lie, but the Court should be aware of this and not give credence to it,” said Budiša.

The defense requested that alternative measures be imposed instead of detention.

Judge Ćuković asked prosecutor Jolović to respond to the defense's claims, and Jolović stated that the jurisdiction of the Court of BiH exists because money laundering is also a criminal offense, even though she did not mention this offense for any of the suspects today, but that the Court of BiH issued an order to banks in 2023 due to suspicions of money laundering.

She announced that more than 20 witnesses will be examined in the case, as well as responsible persons in Putevi RS, which will involve a large number of individuals.

She rejected the possibility of replacing the proposed detention measure with other prohibitive measures.

“Neither would it be justified nor could the monitoring be carried out, and the goal that detention can achieve would not be met. The testimonies of the suspects are corroborated by material evidence, payments, receipts, invoices,” said Jolović.

Lawyer Nožica addressed the Court of BiH once again, stating that she did not want to mention the political situation, but she urged the court not to complicate the situation with its decision and that RS has jurisdiction over all three.

“I believe my client was targeted, and if there is no jurisdiction, I ask the court to release all the accused and send them to the competent court in Banja Luka,” said Nožica.

The Court of BiH will make a decision within the legal deadline.