Jelena Majstorovic, regional head of the anti-smuggling group in the state administration for collecting taxes and customs, is among those detained in an extensive police operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).
Majstorovic, who is the head of the Regional Center for Indirect Taxation Authority (ITA) of BiH in Banja Luka, was detained in an operation carried out in several cities in BiH on December 21st.
Among those detained are her colleagues from ITA BiH Stevo Savic, Radenko Popovic, Vladimir Puzic, Vladimir Djurdjevic, and Elvis Dzaferagic.
Yesterday, December 22nd, all those arrested were handed over to the jurisdiction of the BiH Prosecutor’s Office, where their interrogation is ongoing, the Court of BiH announced.
According to an earlier announcement by the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH, six detained officials of the ITA of BiH are charged with criminal offenses of abuse of position and receiving gifts and other forms of benefits.
Neither the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA), nor the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH, stated what specific actions the detained persons were charged with. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, upon completion of the investigation, further actions against the detained persons will be announced.
This is not the first case of arrest in the ITA. The former director of that institution, Kemal Causevic, was arrested in June 2014. In addition to him, 54 other people were arrested, most of whom were officials in the ITA BiH.
The Court of BiH handed down a second-instance verdict against Causevic in October of this year, sentencing him to 5 and a half years in prison. The court ordered that around 295.000 euros of money obtained by committing a criminal offense to be confiscated from Causevic.
He was the only employee of the ITA who was convicted, although he testified against high-ranking political officials whom he claimed were his principals. He was appointed to the post of ITA director as a member of the SDA.
ITA is a state institution responsible for collecting state revenues based on value-added tax (VAT), state customs duties, and special taxes on excise goods such as fuel, cigarettes, and alcohol, Radio Slobodna Evropa reports.
E.Dz.
