SIPA

Today (12/21/2015), police officials of the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA), searched 17 locations in the wider area of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the operation codenamed "Kurir". The operation was conducted in cooperation with officials of the B&H Indirect Taxation Administration and the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Croatia and with the help of the police officials of the B&H Brčko District Police and the Ministry of Interior of the Tuzla Canton and Posavina Canton.

Suspects in this case are accused of operating jointly and for several times, in the period from August 2014 to December 2015, illegally transferring money in cash from Bosnia to Croatia over the border crossing "Orašje", depositing the money into bank accounts open at the banks in the territory of the Republic of Croatia, and then through bank transactions sending it to legal and natural persons to the accounts open at commercial banks in China. The suspects sold in the "black market" in Bosnia and Herzegovina the goods purchased with money that was transferred into the accounts in Chinese banks. These individuals took out of B&H money worth more than 23 million BAM, damaging the budget of B&H for more than three million BAM.

The operation was preceded by months-long complex criminal investigation which documented illegal activities of suspect legal and natural persons. During the search, over 200,000€ cash, weapons, business documents and several trucks and passenger vehicles were found and temporarily forfeited. These items will serve as evidence in further proceedings.

After completion of the search the public will be further informed.