SIPA

A press conference on the Operation “Kurir” was held in the premises of SIPA today (24/12/2015). The results of the operation were presented by the Spokesperson of the Indirect Taxation Authority B&H Ratko Kovačević, Head of the Law Enforcement Department of the Indirect Taxation Authority Mahmedalija Osmić and SIPA Spokesperson Kristina Jozić.

The Operation "Kurir" started on Monday (21/12/2015) and it was a joint action of the State Investigation and Protection Agency and the Indirect Taxation Authority B&H in the fight against tax evasion and money laundering. The operation was carried out upon the orders of the B&H Prosecutor’s Office and the Court, in cooperation with police officials of the Brčko District Police, MoI of Tuzla Canton and MoI of Posavina Canton. A close cooperation in this case was established with the MoI of the Republic of Croatia, where certain coordinated activities were also carried out.

 Under the Operation "Kurir", residential and business facilities as well as warehouse facilities of legal persons in 21 locations in the area of Sarajevo, Orašje, Brčko District and Gradačac were searched in recent days. The searches resulted in detection and seizure of cash in various currencies amounting to over 220 thousand euros, weapons, financial, business and other documentation, internal records, several passenger and commercial vehicles, mobile phones and SIM cards, computers and other items that may serve as evidence in further proceedings. The searches in some locations are still underway.

On Tuesday (22/12/2015), police officials of arrested nine individuals due to grounded suspicion of having committed the criminal offence of conspiracy to perpetrate criminal offence in conjunction with the criminal offences of tax evasion and money laundering. Following criminal processing, seven suspects along with the report on suspicion of perpetration of the criminal offence were handed over to the Prosecutor's Office B&H for further proceedings.
These individuals are suspected to have committed criminal offences of tax evasion or fraud and money laundering in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the manner that several legal entities owned by Chinese nationals organised and imported various types of goods from China, while most of the imported goods were sold without being recorded in business documents in Gradačac, “Arizona" market, ​​Brčko District BH and Sarajevo area. In this manner, they acquired large amounts of money without origin, which was illegally transferred to Croatia through several associates who were BH citizens, from where the money was transferred through bank accounts to their accounts in China.

These individuals are suspected of having carried the money out of B&H in the amount of over 23 million BAM resulting in 3 million BAM damage to the budget of B&H.
Activities in this case will continue to shed light on the criminal offences and document all illegal activities of the suspects.