Report on criminal offense related to trading shares of GP ŽGP d.d. Sarajevo submitted to the Prosecutor's Office

(Patria) - The Securities Commission of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina has submitted a report on a committed offense to the competent prosecutor's office against individuals from BiH, Montenegro, Slovenia, Croatia, and legal entities from BiH, Slovenia, Switzerland, Austria, Slovakia, and Liechtenstein due to the existence of grounds for suspicion of committing the criminal offenses of Organized Crime, Association for the Purpose of Committing Criminal Offenses, Abuse of Authority, Negligent Economic Operations, Causing Bankruptcy, Receiving a Reward for Influence Peddling, Money Laundering, and Market Manipulation in connection with the disputed trading of shares of GP ŽGP d.d. Sarajevo, the change in the ownership and management structure of the company, and disputed real estate transactions, i.e., disputed activities that led to a drastic reduction in the value of the assets of GP ŽGP d.d. Sarajevo and the causing of intentional bankruptcy of this company.

Based on the supervision of the proceedings related to the trading of shares of GP ŽGP joint-stock company Sarajevo (hereinafter: GP ŽGP d.d. Sarajevo), conducted to determine all circumstances related to the change in the ownership and management structure of GP ŽGP d.d. Sarajevo and disputed real estate transactions, the Securities Commission of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina determined numerous irregularities, which are reflected in the disputed trading of shares of the aforementioned company by members of a group associated for the commission of criminal offenses using the assets of investment funds in an illegal manner, which resulted in damage to investment funds and their shareholders; disputed real estate transactions between members of the group that led to property damage to investment funds, and disputed activities that led to a drastic reduction in the value of the assets of GP ŽGP d.d. Sarajevo, i.e., causing intentional bankruptcy of this company.

In this regard, the Commission has submitted a Report on a Committed Criminal Offense to the competent prosecutor's office against the individual with initials M.S. from Sarajevo as the organizer of the group for committing criminal offenses, and S.K. from Austria, M.S. from Podgorica, Montenegro, M.K. from Šentilj, Slovenia, E.D. from Sarajevo, Lj.P. from Sarajevo, S.Đ. from Sarajevo, M.B. from Kakanj, S.B. from Sarajevo, G.Š. from Travnik, D.B. from Vitez, J.B. from Vitez, A.M. from Sarajevo, M.DŽ. from Sarajevo, A.S. from Sarajevo, B.M. from Sarajevo, J.P. from Sarajevo, M.S.T. from Sarajevo, J.S. from Sarajevo, H.S. from Sarajevo, E.P. from Sarajevo, D.D. from Sarajevo, A.K. from Sarajevo, M.K. from Sarajevo, A.M. from Visoko, E.B. from Sarajevo, H.M. from Zagreb, Croatia, A.K. from Ljubljana, Slovenia, M.F. from Sarajevo, T.V. from Sarajevo, Dž.D. from Sarajevo, A.B. from Sarajevo, E.Č. from Kakanj, V.E. from Sarajevo, M.S. from Sarajevo, M.H. from Sarajevo, R.T. from Ljubljana, Slovenia, N.M. from Sarajevo, E.F. from Sarajevo, A.M. from Sarajevo, T.K. from Sarajevo, S.M. from Sarajevo, E.H. from Sarajevo, and D.D. from Sarajevo, as well as against legal entities (joint-stock companies, limited liability companies, fund management companies, and brokerage houses) from Sarajevo, Slovenia, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and Slovakia, due to the existence of grounds for suspicion of committing various criminal offenses under the Criminal Code of BiH (hereinafter: CCBiH) and the Criminal Code of the Federation of BiH (hereinafter: CCFBiH), including criminal offenses from Article 250 of the CCBiH (Organized Crime), Article 249 of the CCBiH (Association for the Purpose of Committing Criminal Offenses), Article 383 of the CCFBiH (Abuse of Position or Authority), Article 242 of the CCFBiH (Negligent Economic Operations), Article 243 of the CCFBiH (Causing Bankruptcy), Article 219 of the CCBiH (Receiving a Reward or Other Benefit for Influence Peddling), Article 209 of the CCBiH (Money Laundering), and the criminal offense from Article 260 of the Law on the Securities Market (Market Manipulation).

The aforementioned actions of the Commission represent a concrete result of the efforts that this institution has been making since the appointment of the new convocation in September 2021. It is also the effect of the many years of work by its employees in shedding light on the disputed conduct of some participants in the capital market in the Federation of BiH. Bearing in mind that the Commission has simultaneously worked on strengthening relations with judicial and other bodies in the state and entity, we express our conviction that the Commission's activities aimed at uncovering and prosecuting perpetrators of criminal offenses committed in the securities market will be met with support and ultimately result in the pronouncement of final judgments against persons proven to have committed criminal offenses, especially since the news about the initiation of bankruptcy proceedings in the company GP ŽGP d.d. Sarajevo captured public attention in early March 2023.

In the coming period, the Commission will continue to monitor capital market activities and cooperate with competent authorities in supervising securities trading, and will promptly inform the public about it.