SIPA filed a claim against Border Police Director, parallel internal inquiry under way

SIPA has filed a claim against BiH Border Police Director Zoran Galic with the Prosecutor's Office. The file contains full-fledged documentation relating to procurement of luxury vehicles and expensive shirts for employees of BiH Border Police, along with a detailed statement by Svevlad Hoffmann, a suspended high official of the Border Police.  

We have an unofficial confirmation from SIPA that Hoffmann filed a complaint on the grounds of breach of authority and position.

During his 5-hour interview at SIPA, he explained in detail the procurement of two luxury vehicles for more than 160.000 KM, then high-priced yet extremely poor quality shirts (and other garments) for members of Border Police. Total amount spent for this purchase was 1.8 million KM. The cost of the shirts was as high as 40 KM per piece.  

He also spoke to SIPA inspectors about numerous other illegalities that directly involved Galic.

This situation caused that Vladimir Popovic, Galic's man and a policeman of a questionable past, start an internal inquiry of all employees of Border Police who saw and/or handled the purchase contracts for cars and shirts.

Galic wants to locate the sources of leaks in the agency through his loyal associate Popovic.

Who is Vladimir Popovic

Vladimir Popovic is the Head of Office of Professional Standards and Internal Control of BiH Border Police.

He enjoys a strong support by highly positioned politicians. Although he was not a police officer, he got a job with the Border Police and swiftly advanced in his career.

Popovic has been at the current position since September 2015. Until then, he was the Head of Office for Strategic Planning and European Integrations. He holds a rank of chief inspector, which he earned not by merit but by influence and lobbying of Croat politicians.

Before joining the Border Police, Vladimir Popovic worked at private company 'Dalmata' from Herzegovina. When applying for the job with the Border Police, he enclosed a document confirming his police experience from one of the ministries of internal affairs in Herzegovina.

Popovic is under a direct protection of Director Zoran Galic and everything he does in the agency is under his supervision and direction, which media wrote about on several occasions.

And while investigating previous tenders, BiH Border Police announced a new tender for procurement of uniforms with a budget of 1.5million KM.

Hoffmann was suspended on 15 June

The Chief Inspector Svevlad Hoffmann was suspended by Director Galic on 15 June on the grounds of alleged several cases of breach of work obligations. The work suspension can last the maximum of 60 days i.e. until the finalization of the disciplinary action. In this case, the period of suspension expires on 15 August. Hoffmann was suspended after he had been requesting for months information about the procurement of vehicles and uniforms.