The Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina proposed the detention of five persons who are suspected of corruption and the illegal sale of diplomas in the case codenamed “Index”.
The acting prosecutor of the Special Department for Organized Crime, Economic Crime and Corruption of the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, after questioning the suspects, sent a proposal to the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina to order detention measures for the suspects: Edina Brutus, Damir Žuga, Elma Brutus, Kaja Imširović and Hajriz Bećirović, it was reported from BiH Prosecutor’s Office.
The 30-day detention measure was proposed due to the danger that the suspects could hinder the investigation, conceal evidence and influence witnesses or accomplices, or commit the crime again or complete what they had started.
The suspects are accused of having issued diplomas of the International University in Goražde (IUG) on higher education with all three study cycles to a large number of people in the territory of BiH, the Republic of Italy, Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Libya, Turkey and other countries.
During the investigation, evidence was gathered that the suspect Edin Brutus and other members of the group were finding persons interested in obtaining a diploma or purchasing them, in a completely illegal process, without the approval of the competent authorities in BiH, the Swiss Confederation and Italy, as well as organizing alleged classes on the territory of Switzerland for students from Italy.
They are suspected of having committed the criminal offense of organized crime in connection with the criminal offense of money laundering prescribed by the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the criminal offenses of special cases of forgery of documents, certification of untrue content, fraud, giving gifts and other forms of benefits, falsification or destruction of business or trade books or document and confiscation or destruction of official seal or official files, abuse of official position or authority from CC F BiH.
The action was carried out in the area of Goražde, Sarajevo, Zenica, Travnik and Konjic, under the supervision of the acting prosecutor of the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the police officers of the SIPA participated in the implementation of the actions, in cooperation with the police officers of the Federal Police Administration, the MUP of KS, Zenica-Doboj Canton, Bosnian Podrina Canton, Central Bosnian Canton and Herzegovina-Neretva Canton.
During the action, a significant amount of money, a large amount of documentation, university diplomas, student files, documentation related to the financial operations of legal entities, seals, computers and other items that can serve as evidence in further proceedings were confiscated. Temporary suspensions of transactions in the amount of more than 350,000 BAM were carried out for five natural persons.
The proposal for detention has been sent to the Court of BiH, where a hearing is expected to be scheduled based on the proposal of the prosecution, according to the statement.
