Everyone believed that Duško Knežević was a supporter of the DPS policy, which he did not hide at the time, which is why the party's activist from Zeta, Bato Vukićević - asked him to help the party financially, to which he agreed.
Thus, Slavoljub Stijepović explained to the prosecutors why the businessman from the warrant decided to send him dollars to the cabinet while he was still the mayor of Podgorica, and in the run-up to the parliamentary elections in 2016.
This, among other things, is written in the indictment against Knežević, Stijepović and five other persons, accused of creating a criminal group and money laundering.
They reportedly discussed financial aid in September 2016, a month before the vote.
"After a short time, a younger man came to the Municipality of Podgorica, where he worked as mayor, and handed him an envelope or a folder, which he took without talking to this person in the antechamber and returned to the office, opened the folder and saw that there are dollars in it, with the most dollars being in denominations of $100," the indictment, which is awaiting confirmation by the High Court, states.
It says that Stijepović said that Knežević often sent him some documents, but that was the first time he received money from him.
"He connected everything with the story of Bat Vukićević - that Knežević would help with the campaign".
The current General Secretary of the President of the State, Milo Đukanović, explained that after that he called Vukićević and told him what had happened, and that the latter replied that the campaign was coming to an end, that they did not have time to convert dollars into euros, so they returned to Knežević to finish it.
"Knežević initially said that Vukićević and several of his guys could do it, because there is 50.000 dollars there and it can be easily exchanged. That is the first and last time that Knežević mentioned how much money in dollars he could donate and how much delivered through the driver".
He claims that two days after that, Knežević called him to his home and told him that he had arranged the exchange of dollars into euros...
"When he came to Knežević, he told him that the envelope he was supposed to hand over contained 47.500 euros, so he took the envelope with the money and put it in his pocket"...
Home
Knežević opened the "Envelope" affair by publishing a video in which he hands Stijepović an envelope, which he puts in his pocket, telling him that it contains 97.000 euros.
Knežević: They only took 2,5 percent for exchange".
Stijepović: Let them be, it doesn't matter. (kisses Knežević)
Knežević: 47.500 is here and fifty more, that's 97.500 for you...
In the indictment, however, it is written that Knežević, after his associates had converted more than 100.000 dollars into euros, handed Stijepović "only" 47.5000 euros.
Stijepović admits to the prosecutors that he took the money to the DPS election headquarters in Zeta, where there were many activists, and handed it over to the president of the local DPS, Spas Popović, telling him that Knežević was sending the money he had promised.
He claims that they counted the money together and determined that the envelope contained exactly 47.500 euros.
"Spaso Popović then told him that he would immediately call the election headquarters and distribute the money, because the activists had already informed him that they had no money and that it was necessary to provide food and drink for the participants on the day of the election. The money was distributed to activities in the villages." ..
Tell me whose money it is
In addition to Knežević and Stijepović, Branislav Todorović, Živko Šljivančanin, Tamara Krdžić, Goran Grujović and Tomica Knežević were also accused. All denied guilt.
Former close associate of Knežević, Vlatko Rašović, was given the status of an associate witness in that case.
Rašović claims that the police summoned him for questioning and that he discussed it with Knežević and that his boss at the time told him to tell the inspectors that those were his dollars.
"However, he told him that he would tell the police everything as it was, with which Duško agreed and told him to tell from whom he took the dollars, so when the police hear that it is Migo Stijepović, then they will not hold against him and others undertake actions and conduct further investigation," says the explanation of the indictment of the Special State Prosecutor's Office, which is signed by Chief Special Prosecutor Milivoje Katnić.
Once a service, always a service
The defendant Branislav Todorović, like the other accused, denied that he had committed a criminal offense and said that he had no confidential communication with Knežević and that he had nothing to do with the conversion of money, except that he discussed it with the then boss in a restaurant in Podgorica. .
"The very fact that Knežević gave him information 'on a spoon'... speaks enough that he did not have a close relationship with him, nor did Duško consider him a person of trust, since before he was employed at Atlas Bank, he worked at the Agency for national security. During the meeting, Duško Knežević always told him - Once a service, always a service, and that is precisely what says that Duško always had a distance from me", the explanation of the indictment states.
They didn't tell Mila about the money, because it was help from a neighbor
Stijepović claims that neither he nor anyone else from Zeta informed the Main Board or the DPS headquarters in Podgorica about Knežević's money:
"Neither the president of the DPS, nor any other official - because everyone saw the donation as local, from a serious businessman, neighbor and friend, and Knežević emphasized that the money was for the DPS board in Zeta"...
He, as well as everyone in Montenegro, he writes, then believed that he was a world-renowned businessman: "And that was the time when Knežević brought Clinton to Montenegro"...
Stijepović also said that he believed that the figure of 50.000 dollars was insignificant to Knežević.
"Regardless of the fact that it is a lot of money for ordinary citizens".
Everything is under control
At the hearing, Rašović said that during 2017, the then executive director of Atlas Bank, Marko Nikolić, called him and told him that the Special Prosecutor's Office was looking for information on the conversion of money...
He claims that he met with Todorović and Dražen Vujisić on that occasion and that they agreed on further steps.
"When Branislav told them that he has a good friend - Časlav Vešović... who is also a friend of Stijepović, so through him he will see with Migo how best to solve the problem"...
Rašović said that after two days, Todorović called him and told him - that Migo told Časlav that he had heard from Knežević and that the banker told them that everything was under control and that they should not worry about anything.
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