Major SIPA operation: Searches at over 10 locations, ten arrested, large sum of money blocked

(Patria) - As part of the "Bulevar" operational action, police officers of the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) in the SBK area carried out searches of residential and business premises and movable property at 11 locations, while a search at the 12th is still ongoing.

To date, 10 individuals have been arrested in connection with the commission of certain criminal offenses.

The searches are being conducted under the order of the Cantonal Court in Sarajevo and under the supervision of the KS Prosecutor's Office, due to the existence of grounds for suspicion that the criminal offenses of: "Forgery of Documents", "Illegal Trade", "Money Laundering" in connection with the criminal offense of "Criminal Association" and "Legal Entity Liability" have been committed, as prescribed by the Criminal Code of FBiH.

In the operational action "Bulevar", activities are also being undertaken in accordance with the Law on Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorist Activities of BiH, within which checks will be carried out through all banks in BiH and other obliged entities on the balances of the accounts of the involved individuals, as well as whether they possess safe deposit boxes in banks.

So far, approximately 618,025.64 KM and 35,513.93 Euros have been blocked. Furthermore, during the searches, a large amount of business documentation was discovered and temporarily seized, which can serve as evidence that the aforementioned criminal offenses have been committed.

During their work on the case, i.e., documenting the committed criminal offenses, SIPA police officers identified real estate acquired by the suspects through the commission of criminal offenses, consisting of 20 apartments, 26 storage units, and 16 garage spaces in the Sarajevo area, in relation to which the Cantonal Court in Sarajevo, at the proposal of the KS Prosecutor's Office, issued a decision on the temporary prohibition of disposal of the said real estate, which will be handed over to the Federal Agency for Management of Confiscated Property for further jurisdiction.

The searches are being carried out in cooperation with the Tax Administration of FBiH and the Ministries of Internal Affairs of the Central Bosnia Canton and the Zenica-Doboj Canton.

Given that activities are ongoing, the public will be informed of the final outcome later, it was announced from SIPA.


Searches of premises in Stup (Photo: Patria)

As part of the "Bulevar" action, searches of residential buildings are being conducted today in the Sarajevo residential settlement of the same name in Stup. In addition to the police, members of the Federal Agency for Management of Confiscated Property are participating in the operation.