The higher court in Podgorica will decide on the merits of accusations that businessman Dragan Brković, his sons Bojan and Boris Brković and the director of their company "Vektra Boka" Milić Popović illegally acquired around five million euros, but also that the Brkovićs laundered "dirty" money.
They are charged with these crimes by the Special State Prosecutor's Office, which yesterday handed over the indictment against the three Brković and Popović to the Special Department for Trials of Organized Crime, Corruption, Terrorism and War Crimes of the High Court in Podgorica.
Prosecutor and SDT spokesman Vukas Radonjić announced yesterday that they are being charged with the extended criminal offenses of abuse of authority in the economy and abuse of authority in the economy by aiding and abetting and criminal offenses of money laundering and money laundering by aiding and abetting.
He also explained that in the procedure that preceded the filing of the indictment, it was established at the level of reasonable suspicion that the defendants, in the period from September 2017 to December 2019, during the execution of the reorganization plan of the business company "Vektra Boka", as responsible persons in the business society, abused their powers:
"With the intention of obtaining illegal property benefits for other legal entities and that they used the funds at the company's disposal in the amount of 5.075.346,19 euros contrary to their purpose and thus grossly violated the authorities in terms of management, disposal and use of property, and that they are accused D. B., B. B. and B. B. also laundered part of the money, which was obtained as illegal property benefit by abuse of authority".
By order of the SDT, Brkovići and Popović were arrested in August 2021, and spent a little less than three months in custody.
They were then handcuffed in the investigation in which the SDT investigated how Dragan Brković bought the once state-owned hotel and tourist company "Boka" 17 years ago, but also whether after his management led the company to bankruptcy, by implementing bankruptcy through during the reorganization, looted the company's assets and extracted money from it with loans, while the former employees had not yet collected their claims.
The SDT also investigated how part of the property of "Vektra Bok" was sold in the reorganization for 6.740.680 euros, of which the largest part of the money was transferred to "Vektra Investments", another company of Dragan Brković, on the basis of loans.
Bought shares, then sold property
In 2007, as the first-ranked bidder in the tender for the sale of 59,4 percent of the state's shares, Brković bought HTP "Boka", and in December of that year he committed to invest 50 million euros in the development of the company over the next three years, announcing another 14.000.000. XNUMX euro investment.
Immediately before the signing of the contract, he bought a 33 percent stake in that company from Hungarian companies, which with the shares he bought from the state enabled him to control that company with about 92 percent ownership.
He committed to start investing no later than October 1, 2008, but neither then nor in the following years did he invest in one of the most recognizable hotel companies. Despite this, after three years, instead of terminating the contract, he received an extension of the investment period through an annex.
The Commercial Court introduced bankruptcy on June 13, 2015 due to a debt of four million euros to the Crnogorska kommerciolja banka.
In December 2015, the Reorganization Plan was approved, but due to OTP Factoring's appeal, the procedure lasted another year.
The reorganization plan envisages that the sale of a part will provide 25,69 million euros for the payment of debts, most of it through the sale of assets.
Due to all the malfeasance and damage suffered by the former employees of that Herzegovinian company, 78 of them submitted a criminal complaint to the prosecutor's office because of the Company Reorganization Plan, which they claim was implemented to their detriment.
Milić Popović, Ranko Grbavac and Boris Brković, with monthly fees of 2.000 euros each, as well as Dragan Spalević and lawyer Snežana Jović, with monthly fees of 1.500 euros, were in the five-member professional team, which was in charge of the company's operations during the implementation of the Reorganization Plan. .
Former Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Policy and President of the Privatization Council Vujica Lazović announced in February 2008 that the privatization procedure of HTP "Boka" was carried out legally and he assessed it as successful.
According to data from the archive, the tender was announced on the basis of the privatization plan from 2006, which was signed by then Prime Minister Milo Đukanović, who was not in that position when the privatization contract was signed.
Blocked property
Suzana Mugoša, the investigating judge of the Podgorica High Court, in March last year, at the request of the SDT, temporarily blocked real estate registered in the cadastre as ownership or with the right to use the company "Vektra Boka". In the explanation of the decision of Judge Mugoš, it is written that it was brought in accordance with the investigation against the defendant Dragan Brković, who is suspected of the extended criminal offense of abuse of authority in the economy and the criminal offense of money laundering by assisting, against Milić Popović for abuse of authority in the economy, as well as against Bojan and Boris Brković for abuse of authority in the economy and money laundering.
"A temporary security measure can last at most until the decision on the permanent confiscation of property benefits acquired through criminal activity takes effect. This temporary measure will be abolished ex officio if the indictment does not enter into legal force within two years from the date of adoption of the decision on the determination of the temporary security measure", it is written in that decision.
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