Fuel cards reveal abuses?

The Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica opened the case after a criminal complaint for abuse of official position was filed against the executive director of Podgorica "Čistoća" Andrija Čađenović and several other employees of that company, as well as against NN persons employed in the company "Lukoil".

This was confirmed to "Vijesta" by the Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica. "Čistoća" told the newsroom that they were not familiar with the content of the report.

"On November 25 of this year, a group of firefighters filed a criminal complaint against A. Č. at the ODT in Podgorica. and other persons, for the criminal offense of abuse of official position. According to it, a criminal case was formed, which was assigned to the state prosecutor, in accordance with internal rules, and during the investigation, all necessary actions will be taken and all notifications, evidence and data necessary to make a decision will be collected," the state prosecutor told "Vijesta" and spokesperson in Podgorica ODT Vukas Radonjić.

The criminal report filed by former employee Denis Hot from Podgorica, in addition to Čađenović, includes Slobodanka Čabarkapa and Vojin Katnić, assistants to the executive director in "Čistoka", Veselin Mijović, member of the Board of Directors in "Čistoka" and president of the trade union organization, Stanislava Martinović, president Board of Directors in "Cistoća", Miodrag Mišo Lazović, retired person. The application was also filed against "other private persons" from the city utility company, as well as against "public persons employed in 'Lokoil Montenegro doo'" from Podgorica.

The criminal complaint was filed due to "the suspicion that there are elements of corruption in their actions and actions, so they caused significant material damage to the company 'Čistoća doo' - Podgorica, whose founder is Glavni grad".

In the explanation of the report, among other things, it is stated that they were reported "by order of the executive director, contrary to the contracts on the public supply of fuel and autogas" from October 2018 and October 2019, which were concluded between "Čistoca" and "Lukoil", " performed the delivery (filling/filling) of fuel".

"In this way, they abused their official position and caused significant material damage to the company 'Čistoća', that is, they enabled the acquisition of illegal property benefits for themselves and third parties," the report states, among other things.

The applicant compared the text of the contracts for the supply of fuel and autogas from 2015 to 2020, and suggests that all contracts from 2015 to 2019 contained an article on corporate cards (Article 7), according to which "Čistoća" was obliged to provide the supplier submit a list of vehicles with license plates, as well as the names of persons authorized to use the cards, as well as a record of deposited signatures. Hot adds that the contract for 2020 has been changed in part of those obligations.

"There are no more records of deposited signatures... there is no paragraph 2 that clearly states how the vehicle will be identified, that is, that each vehicle has its own card. Now it is planned to use company cards with a limit, that is, it is planned to deliver fuel in such a way that it is not possible to accurately monitor fuel consumption for each vehicle separately. The client, i.e. his authorized person - the executive director, will now exercise control through his authorized representatives, i.e. through his trusted people", states, among other things, the applicant.

He adds that "after coming to the position of executive director, in mid-February 2019, Čađenović created first one, and then another card for filling fuel".

"Which are not related to any license plates, and all with the aim of obtaining illegal property benefits for themselves or third parties. The first card is found on 'Lukoil' invoices for passenger vehicles, and the second is found on invoices for other vehicles. It is obvious that this could not have been done without the support of NGOs employed in 'Lukoil Montenegro doo', because since 2015 it has been known the obligation from Article 7 of the Agreement that fuel is exclusively delivered to the vehicle via the appropriate card for that vehicle", it says, among other things , in the explanation of the application. Hot states that tying the card to the license plates, as well as the card of the deposited signatures, prevent the misuse of the cards.

"Only the person from the card of deposited signatures with the help of the person from the gas station can commit abuse. The person at the gas station checks the vehicle's license plates, i.e. whether they correspond to the card given to him by the authorized person of 'Cistoće', in order to record the filling of fuel and that card is 'charged' for the amount of fuel filled, which will be invoiced to 'Čistoće' at the end of the month. . Likewise, the authorized person of 'Čistoće' confirms that it is a 'Čistoće' vehicle, which is linked to that card and in this way misuse by other persons is impossible", states Hot in the explanation of the application and adds that the "free" cards " they use with the help of employees at the Lukoil gas station.

"Because they 'swipe' the card and know that it is not linked to any 'Cistoće' vehicle, that is, they 'swipe' it even though they see that it is owned by 'Čistoće', and the vehicle into which the fuel was poured does not belong to 'Čistoće', because it is not on the list of vehicles from Article 7 of the Contract on Public Procurement," Hot claimed in the criminal complaint.

In the application, he also mentioned several cases which, as he explains, point to possible abuses. Thus, he states that one of the invoices indicates that Čađenović poured 30 liters of fuel into the tank of a vehicle with registration number PG MN 020 at the "Lukoil" gas station in Tološi, which Hot states "was never owned by 'Čistoća'".

"Also, according to the terms of the public procurement, that gas station should not have been included in the offer of the fuel delivery supplier, because it does not meet the required conditions (at least five filling points and sufficient space for maneuvering vehicles)", he explains.

He also adds that part of the documentation he attached to the application indicates that Čađenović "manages to fill 50 liters of fuel" in a 100-liter tank, that he "gives sponsorships in the form of fuel to the Judo Federation of Montenegro, of which he is the president", and that allegedly he used to have to drive about 350 kilometers a day in his official vehicle.

"In order to cover this mileage in city driving conditions on a daily basis, he would have to spend about 10 hours in the vehicle," the application states.

In the application, Hot also stated suspicions that "in the past few days, certain actions have been taking place in which documentation related to fuel is either destroyed, or corrections are made in reports and invoices, in order to cover up the traces of misuse of the said cards", he wrote in report.

Hot, as he claimed, was fired from "Čistoća" earlier because he also filed a complaint with suspicions that a criminal offense with characteristics of corruption was committed in the company "Čistoća".

Official vehicles for relatives?

In the application, Hot claims that Siniša Rašović, who was suspected of stealing 16 phones from "Čistoća" in March, is a close relative of the executive director of that company and that he was not a driver, but a cashier.

"Although he often drove the vehicle with the registration number PG CG H44 used by Čađenović, he was immediately given a 24-hour use of the vehicle with the registration number PG CG A85, from which the GPS device was later removed so that it would not be possible to know what the vehicle was used for." claims Hot in the application and adds that the vehicle is now owned by uncle Andrija Čađenović, "who is also employed at 'Čistoća'".

As Čađenović told the media at the time, Rašović was fired from "Cistoća" after learning that he had stolen the phones.

In the application, Hot also said that the executive director of that utility company ignored the ombudsman's recommendations regarding the distribution of apartments in "Čistoća".