Ubović to pay 60.000 euros for non-payment of taxes

Podgorica businessman Ranko Ubović will have to pay the state about 60.000 euros in debt, on account of unpaid taxes and contributions.

This is the first-instance decision of Podgorica Basic Court judge Radovan Vlaović, who accepted the state's claim.

In the explanation of the decision, it is stated that from the final criminal verdict against Ubović, it is clear that he treated the company's property as if it were his personal property, which, as it is added, means that he acquired the illegal property benefit exclusively for himself, as a natural person.

"For this court, there is no dilemma that the establishment of a company is only for carrying out one job (importing coffee), that is, without the intention of carrying out work for a long period of time, without hiring other employees and soon after that closing it down, all followed by non-payment of personal income, non-submission of accounts earnings and contributions, done solely with the aim that the defendant would avoid paying the tax liability through abuse of the company," the judgment concludes.

Ubović was legally sentenced to a suspended prison sentence eight years ago, due to evasion of taxes and contributions and abuse of authority in the economy.

In 2012, the state initiated proceedings before the Basic Court in Podgorica, demanding compensation from Ubović and his former company PP "IL Gatto" in the amount of 60.369 euros with interest since 2008.

Since it was established in the meantime that the company did not exist since 2000, only Ubović remained as the defendant.

In his testimony, Ubović claimed that he did not earn anything from importing coffee, because he failed to collect the claim, which is why he closed the company that dealt with it.

He added that he was the only employee in that company, that the disputed coffee import was the only job he did through that company.

"I believe that I am not a taxpayer in this particular case, the tax should have been paid by the end user. I was convicted for another matter, not for that," stated Ubović.

When asked by the judge - why he didn't file an appeal against the conviction if it was true, Ubović said: "I thought I shouldn't make a fuss".

The final decision is in the hands of the High Court

Lawyer Milivoje Raičević, Ubović's attorney, told "Vijesta" that he will appeal the verdict.

This is the third first-instance verdict, and the first two, which also accepted the state's claim, have already been canceled twice, and the final decision is now in the hands of the High Court.

The High Court previously annulled the decision, stating that the court must determine specific actions that constitute abuse, i.e. determine fraudulent behavior...

"In the specific case, apart from the criminal verdict, the prosecutor did not provide any evidence regarding the claims that the defendant made a financial benefit for the legal entity, of which he was the founder, and that the resulting financial benefit was transferred to his property," it was written in the annulment solution.