Podgorica LK will answer before the court due to accusations that during the last year he embezzled about 3,5 thousand euros from the Kolasin Health Center, where he worked as an X-ray technician.
The decision was made by the panel of the High Court in Bijelo Polje, which confirmed the indictment of the Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Kolašin submitted on November 5.
With that prosecutor's document, LK charges that from January 1 to the last day of 2023, he did not pay the treasury about 2,5 thousand euros, but also that he did not properly invoice about one thousand euros for services provided to foreigners.
"From the collected evidence, there is a well-founded suspicion that the defendant KL in the period from 01.01.2023 until 31.12.2023. year, in Kolašin, aware of his act, the execution of which he wanted, knowing that the same was prohibited, as an X-ray technician employed in the orthopedic clinic of ZU DZK, with the intention of obtaining an illegal financial benefit, he appropriated the money entrusted to him at work, in a way that for the performed orthopedic services in the value of 1.000,66 euros, he did not require invoicing, even though the services of the orthopedic clinic were provided to foreign citizens, and at the same time he did not pay the cash in the in the amount of EUR 2.423,90 for performed orthopedic services for which an invoice was issued, but he did not hand over the money to the treasury, in which way he obtained an illegal property benefit in the amount of EUR 3.424,46, thereby committing the criminal offense of embezzlement from Art. 420 st. 2 in connection with paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro", it is written in the decision of the panel of the High Court in Bijelo Polje, presided over by the judge Dragan Dašić.
The judge adds that the well-founded suspicion that the defendant committed the criminal offense charged in the indictment in question stems from the attached evidence, as well as witness statements.
A colleague heard that he was being reprimanded
The cashier of the Kolašin Health Center, who was heard as a witness, said that during his daily work he noticed a discrepancy between the invoiced services of the orthopedic outpatient clinic and the amount of funds in the cash register.
"In addition, there was a discrepancy between the number of services provided to foreign citizens, which are normally paid in full in accordance with the Law on Health Care, with the number of invoices for services provided. He explained that in this situation only KL can be held responsible because no one else is responsible for the receipts. KL receives a block of receipts that he debits with his signature, after which he is obliged to write the type of service and the amount charged on the receipts. After that, the receipt is submitted to the cashier, the collected money is handed over after the invoice is drawn up, and then the money is paid into the account", the cashier's statement is interpreted in the decision.
During the hearing, the orthopedic nurse from that health institution said that she had the opportunity to hear the accounting worker admonishing her colleague LK to pay off the receipt blocks.
She also explained that the medical report always states how much should be charged to the patient, and based on that report, a receipt is drawn up, and that she paid off the receipt blocks in an orderly manner, without having any contact points with the invoices, because he was solely responsible for that. her colleague LK
"After the hearing, inspection of the case files, this court determined that there are no errors or deficiencies in the indictment and that the indictment contains all the elements that the indictment must contain, which are prescribed by Article 292 of the CPC. The court appreciated that the evidence collected in the investigation, they provide sufficient grounds for indictment and they were obtained in accordance with the law," explained the decision
According to the case file, the director of the Kolasin Health Center said before the prosecutor that he did not remember ever giving a verbal instruction that those who have a temporary stay in Montenegro should not be charged for services, but that even if he had, he had not made a mistake, because that regulated by the Law on Health Insurance.
"Here, however, we are not talking about persons who have a temporary residence in Montenegro, and even if it is so, this must be determined not only by inspecting the temporary residence permit, but also by obtaining a certificate from F. for zo in order to those persons could later reimburse the costs of medical services. Here we are talking about the fact that certain invoices were made, but the money was not paid to the treasury, another type of problem is the doctor's reports for which there are no invoices, and the third is discrepancies in the blocks of debited and paid receipts. It is about the blocks that were extended by KL, and only with him were those irregularities found," said the head of that health facility during the hearing.
In the decision, the judge adds that it can be concluded that the factual description of the indictment contains all elements of the criminal offense charged against the defendant, and that there is reasonable suspicion that the defendant committed it:
"While the true and complete factual situation can be established in accordance with the procedural principle of adversary, only in the main trial".
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