The Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT) ordered that the business documentation, which arrived by truck at the end of July from the representative office of "Plantaža 13. Jul" from Belgrade, be examined and examined - after that it will be known whether and to whom the criminal investigation will be extended due to possible fraud in that state company, "Vijesti" learns.
This was announced to "Vijesta" yesterday from a source close to the investigation after the former executive director of that company was arrested. Verica Marash.
She was deprived of her liberty due to the suspicion that she participated in embezzlements that damaged the state company for over five million euros, according to the official statement from the Police Administration. This was done as part of the subject "Brickets".
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According to "Vijesti" information, the prosecutors also establish the possible responsibility of Maraševa and her colleagues in the allegedly illegal business of selling fresh grape distillate (100%) to Rubin Kruševac for 2,40 euros per liter, which is "many times below the real price".
Insiders, however, claim that it is "a mine of lawlessness" and that future investigations will prove numerous, multimillion-dollar embezzlements by the former administration.
Several "Vijesti" sources claim that, at the beginning of the investigation into the "Briketi" case, the prosecutor's office presented and copied documents that could prove criminal acts for two days, and that they consolidated the investigation into other criminal charges.
"Among other things, the prosecution also took over a truckload of documents from the Plantaža office in Belgrade. At the request of the SDT, a truck with documents left the capital of Serbia, so a problem arose at the border - how to clear the customs of those goods 'imported' from another country", says the interlocutor of "Vijesti".
Laughter and tears
By order of the special prosecutor Vukas Radonić the police officers came to the office of Plantaž after Maraševo, where he works as a plan and analysis officer in the Finance Sector.
According to "Vijesti" information, members of the Special Police Department (SPO) entered the finance sector, asked where she was sitting, and then showed her an arrest warrant.
"It was stressful... She stood up calmly and said with a smile - Let's go. She has long been ready for arrest, she even talked about it. The reactions of the employees were mixed... Her colleagues from the sector took it hard, there was a lot of crying. It all looked gloomy... No one was happy. I think they could have arrested her at home, like the members of the Board of Directors, and not escorted her through the entire building," said an interlocutor from the state-owned company to "Vijesta".
Marasheva was taken away from that building by the police to attend the search of the real estate she owns - apartments in Yerevanska and Moskovska streets, houses in Zeta...
After the search, by order of the prosecutor, she was taken to the premises of the SPO, from where the inspectors took her out shortly after 14:XNUMX p.m.
According to "Vijesti" information, her lawyer was not present at the searches of the real estate because Maraš told the inspectors that she would later decide who would represent her.
In addition to the properties searched by the police yesterday morning, Maraš also owns an apartment in Budva and a cottage in Žabljak, which the police will also check to determine if there is evidence of the criminal offense she is accused of.
Prosecutor Radonjić told "Vijesti" that the SPO was given a binding order to deprive Maraš of his freedom: "Due to the existence of grounds for suspicion that she committed the criminal offense of abuse of position in business operations as a co-perpetrator."
Extended investigation
In the investigation, which was extended to Maraševo as well, on July 11, members of the police made an arrest Veselin Vukotić, Boža Mihailović, Djordje Rajković, Sead Shahman, Duško Perović i Anica Hajduković suspected of abuse of position in business operations.
The arrests followed a few months after the new management of Plantaž filed a criminal complaint against Vukotić, Maraš, Mihailović and the former director of the Legal and General Affairs Sector. Miroslav Vuković, claiming that they are by taking advantage of their official position, i.e. by abusing their position in business operations, obtained an illegal financial benefit for another, and caused damage to the company - acting in an organized manner as members of a criminal group.
They claim that Vukotić formed a criminal group that planned the way in which they would proceed with the execution of the criminal offense and that they did so by concluding a settlement agreement and an agreement on the transfer of shares.
"In order to implement the criminal plan, they met dozens of times with the representatives of the business company 'OMP Engineering' in whose favor the disputed contracts were concluded, all with the aim of extracting money from the company in '13. jul Plantaže' AD", it says in the application.
They are accused of abusing their position and authority, misrepresenting the essential facts on which the decision of the company's Board of Directors on the conclusion of the disputed contracts depended.
The new management accused the accused of using and abusing their position to obtain multimillion-dollar illegal property benefits from the company "OMP Engineering".
The experts were on the side of "Plantaž"
During the preparation of business documents during the settlement procedure between "Plantaž" and "OMP Engineering", and after the failed deal with the briquette factory, the state company undertook to provide the company, which was founded in 2009 Oleg Obradovic, Miodrag Ivanovic i Predrag Boskovic, who later went out of business, paid 350.000 euros and transferred ownership of 37.000 square meters of land in Donji Kokoti to them.
According to the contractual obligation, the company "OMP Engineering" undertook to transfer to "Plantaže" 50 percent of the share in the joint company "Plant OMP", which has never worked or generated any income.
SDT previously unofficially said that they proposed and then adopted the harmful settlement by the majority of the Board of Directors of "Plantaža" at that time, even though litigation between the two companies was ongoing before the Commercial Court in Podgorica for the purpose of compensation for damages according to the claim and counterclaim, and to whom all the evidence and statements of experts were in favor of the state-owned company.
During the litigation before the Commercial Court, the experts stated that the value of the money and land transferred to the company "OMP Engineering" amounted to at least 1,4 million euros in damage to the state-owned company. According to experts, "Plantaže" should have received compensation of around 3,5 million euros, but they agreed to compensate the opposite party with 1,4 million. The value of the ceded salary, estimated at a little over a million euros at the time, is also questionable.
In 2009, the company "Plantaže", Montenegrin pride for decades, announced a public call in which they were looking for a partner for the briquette factory. "OMP Engineering", a company that was founded exactly three days after the announcement of the advertisement, responded.
In July 2011, a ceremonial opening of the factory was organized - in front of the cameras, the red ribbon was cut by the then mayor of Podgorica Miomir Mugoš and Verica Maraš. Despite the big plans, the production of briquettes was never started even though "Plantaže" and a private company invested 1.467.029,02 euros in money and land in the factory, while the contribution of "OMP Engineering" was 1.278,674,47 euros.
"OMP Engineering" filed a lawsuit against "Plantaž" in 2014, initially demanding compensation of six million euros, claiming that "Plantaž" offered low-quality vines and in insufficient quantities, while this state-owned company subsequently launched a counterclaim claiming that " OMP Engineering" installed equipment in the joint factory that is not suitable for grapevine processing.
During the proceedings in the Commercial Court, an expert in the field of mechanical engineering Goran Dedic made a finding in favor of "Plantaž". He determined that the equipment of "OMP Engineering", which was their stake, could not be used in that type of production at all.
Ana Đukanović was against the settlement
Despite this opinion of the expert, the former management of "Plantaž" initiated the settlement procedure in 2020, and the company's lawyers Ana Đukanović and Marko Hajduković have canceled the power of attorney.
"The conclusion of such a settlement is even more surprising and worrying given the fact that the findings and opinions of experts in the mechanical, economic and agricultural professions, as well as the statements of your management and your employees, were entirely in favor of 'Plantaž,'" warned lawyers Đukanović and Hajduković.
The judge in the multi-year dispute before the Commercial Court was the arrested former president Blažo Jovanić.
At the request of the new management of "Plantaž" at the end of 2021, the proceedings before the Commercial Court between "OMP Engineering" and "Plantaž" were renewed because the new management did not want to implement the settlement agreement due to the suspicion that the agreement was harmful to the company.
Put Verice Maraš: She received a monthly income of 9.560 euros
Verica Maraš has been employed at "Plantaže" since 1985. She was appointed financial director in 1991 and remained in that position until 2008, when she was elected executive director.
She was dismissed from the post of executive director at her personal request in October 2020 - after the State Audit Institution published a report on the control of Plantaž operations with a double negative opinion.
According to reports on the assets of public officials, Maraš had a monthly salary of 5.426 euros after being elected as executive director, and at one point in 2010, it would rise to 9.560 euros. After the public uproar about the high salaries of public officials, in 2012 the Government limited salaries, and the salary of the director of "Plantaž" dropped to "only" 974 euros. In the next four years, her earnings gradually increase again, reaching 2017 euros in 3.703, and 2019 euros in 7.367. In ten months of 2020, her earnings amounted to 3.890 euros, and that year she collected a refund of overpaid taxes and contributions in the amount of 23.456 euros from the state budget.
In May 2020, commenting on the criticism of her salary, she said that salaries are determined in accordance with the valid acts passed by the Board of Directors. At the time, she also stated that "Plantations are a great Montenegrin business system, the pride of Montenegro and a powerful international company" and that her earnings depended on business results "which were always impressive".
However, since 2012, the company has not received a positive opinion from an external auditor on its financial statements, with doubts about their accuracy. It was only last year that the company received a positive opinion, and the auditor stated that in previous years, revenues were incorrectly recorded and therefore increased without any basis. This means that the reports of previous years were falsified in order to falsely present a positive business, which was the reason for the distribution of various bonuses and compensations to the management and members of the board of directors. The auditor estimated that losses of 14 million euros from previous years were not recorded, so they were extraordinarily recorded for 2021, which led to the official loss of last year amounting to 20 million euros.
In 2010, by decision of the Board of Directors chaired by Veselin Vukotić, she received from "Plantaž" non-reimbursable "personnel funds for solving the housing issue" of 299 thousand euros.
"By making this decision, the board had in mind that by investing in personnel resources, it also motivates further high-quality and successful work of the executive director, and ultimately invests in profit, in the 'Plantaža' brand", stated Vukotić in his explanation of this decision. .
In the period from April 2009 to May 2020, Maraš was also a member of the board of Podgorica, or later of Sosijete banka, where she received a monthly fee of 700 to 800 euros. She was also a DPS councilor in the city parliament from September 2006 to July 2014, where she had a monthly allowance of 100 to 150 euros.
Knowingly lost six million?
According to the interlocutor of the newspaper, the SDT, during the reconnaissance phase, asked the representative office of "Plantaž" from Belgrade to provide them with business documentation in order to determine whether there was unscrupulous business within the daughter company, i.e. suspicious deals were concluded to the detriment of the former Montenegrin economic pride.
That the work of the "Plantaž" representative office in Belgrade is a job for the prosecution was first warned by the company's former financial director Valerija Saveljić, who announced at the end of 2019 that her daughter - the company during 2018 and early 2019, while she was the head of the representative office was Veselin Đurišić, with the consent of the then executive director Verica Maraš, started selling fresh grape distillate (100%) to Rubina Kruševac for 2,40 euros per liter...
Saveljić then submitted to the media the invoice for the goods at Rubin Kruševac, from which it can be seen that it is about the sale of about one million liters of fresh grape distillate with a strength of 62 percent.
Then she calculated that in the business on the route "Plantaže - Rubin Kruševac" the loss per liter sold was - 10,43 euros, so the Montenegrin company earned 1.488.000 euros for one million liters of raw distillate, and that the product was sold at a real price of 12,83 euros per liter of absolute alcohol, they would charge as much as 7.955.634 euros.
"By selling absolute alcohol obtained from raw grape distillate below the cost price, not only material and financial damage was caused to "Plantaža", due to the sale below the cost price, but also the reputation of the brand was damaged, and the competition was made aware that the company is in a big financial problems", said Saveljić, who is also a member of GO URE.
During the inspection of the business documents from the Belgrade representative office, it will be determined who withdrew all the money from the treasury, where the company's income was spent and how other deals were concluded.
Creating a false image...
According to the application, Maraš accepted that she was acting on the orders of the organizers of the criminal group, so she agreed to participate in the preparation of the Report for the conclusion of the settlement and created a false image that the work was good for the company.
"That, based on the order of the group organizer, at the meetings of the Board of Directors, he represents the position that the conclusion of the settlement is a good decision for the Company, that the Board has enough material to make such a decision, as well as that at the Board meeting he presents half-assed information about the investment amount, in order to create a false picture that the investment of OPM Engineering is significantly higher than the investment of the company '13 July Plantaže', thus giving the Board of Directors information from 2014, about the assessment of the investment of both companies in the joint company, stating that Plantaže invested about 450.000 euros, and OMP 1.122.000,00 euros, although as the executive director of Plantaž, and as the president of the board of directors of Plant OMP, Verica Maraš must have known that since then the total investments of Plantaž are significantly higher, and that they exceed the amount of investments of OPM Engineering, and that she also other actions in order to realize the planned harmful work", the criminal complaint states.
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