Lijanović brothers arrested, operation still ongoing

At the order of the Prosecutor's Office of BiH in several cities, an operation codenamed 'Meso' is being carried out, one of the largest in the fight against organized crime and multi-million tax evasion, it was announced from the Prosecutor's Office of BiH, reports the Bosnian news agency Patria.

The targets of the arrests are the Ivanković Lijanović brothers, and as "Avaz" learns, the federal Minister of Agriculture, Water Management and Forestry, Jerko Ivanković Lijanović, has already been arrested, as well as his brother Mladen, a representative in the PD PSBiH.

As stated by Boris Grubešić, spokesperson for the Prosecutor's Office of BiH, the operation is being led by a prosecutor from the Prosecutor's Office of BiH from the Operational Headquarters of the operation, and several hundred police officers from SIPA and UIO BiH are participating in field activities.

This involves, among other things, tax and customs evasion in amounts of several million KM, which were committed by establishing and later fictitiously closing companies, leaving behind large tax debts. The aforementioned companies were engaged in the import, production and processing of meat and meat products.

For the mentioned multi-million amounts, the budget of BiH has been damaged, and thus all citizens of our country.

Activities are being carried out at a total of 14 locations in cities across Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the deprivation of liberty of about 10 suspects will be carried out, as well as searches in three companies. 

On the other hand, SIPA is conducting this operation under the codename "Brend" and as announced, the investigative activities undertaken have established that the suspects in this case have acquired illegal property gain in the amount of more than 11.6 million KM through their illegal actions.

Searches of facilities at 17 locations are also underway with the aim of finding and temporarily seizing items that may serve as evidence in further proceedings. The searches cover 14 natural persons and three legal entities, reports Patria.