The trial of defendant Duško Knežević and other defendants in the "Envelope" case continued today at the Higher Court in Podgorica, with the hearing of associate witness Vlatko Rašović.
Vlatko Rašović said that he carried out all the actions on the orders of the president of Atlas Group, Duško Knežević. He stated that when the money was converted, he did not consider that he was doing anything illegal.
In the courtroom today, he said: "I was just an ordinary head of general affairs at Atlas Bank."
He spoke in detail about the job he held at Atlas Bank, about the meeting held at the Pod Volat restaurant in Podgorica, attended by Duško Knežević and former director of Atlas Bank Branislav Todorović, after which the conversion was carried out.
Rašović was once Knežević's personal driver and was the head of general affairs at the Atlas Group, and he received the status of a cooperating witness due to the disputed conversion of 100.000 dollars into euros.
Rašović explained in detail how the meeting took place in the Podgorica bar "Pod volat", which was attended by Duško Knežević, Todorović and some clients, while he and his colleague Vujisić sat at another table.
He stated that he was not present at the conversation they had, but he remembers that after leaving the building, he went to the Municipality to the office of the then mayor, Slavoljub Stijepović, who, after a polite question, gave him a folder that was in a bag and asked him if he knew what to do next. Rašović answered in the affirmative.
Then he went to the bank to see Šljivančanin and from the door he heard him talking to someone on the phone and saying: "Here comes Vlatko". He handed him the folder and immediately walked away in the direction of the security guys. After that, Šljivančanin told him:
"This can't all be in your name." The witness replied that he should call Todorović and arrange everything with him.
The orders for the money that was to be converted were signed by Rašović and other drivers, whose boss he was.
"I called Knežević and asked him how much money was involved. He told me it was 97.500 euros. Later, they explained to me that I could not sign the order for that amount myself because the amount was limited per individual. Of course, all the drivers did not know who it was for except me, who took over the money," said Rašović and continued:
"When Todorović told me that the Special Prosecutor's Office was working on this case, it was immediately clear to me that we would be arrested, but he reassured me that it wouldn't happen and that he would go to Stijepović and talk to him. A few days later, Todorović told me that he had spoken to him and that Stijepović had told him not to worry and that everything would be under control," said witness Rašović.
He explained the circumstances of his actions as an authorized person in the company "Florist", emphasizing that he formally took that position at the suggestion of Knežević.
"Back then, I signed everything they gave me. I trusted Knežević and Đurđić, I believed they wouldn't abuse me. I was authorized only on paper. I went and withdrew money several times. Whether it was in the name of the company I was authorized for or not, I don't know. I was sent to take the money and sign, always on Knežević's orders, and I never knew the amount of money," the cooperating witness said.
He added that he only realized later that many of the things that were done at that time were illegal, even though he was not aware of it at the time.
"I didn't even know that I had signed collateral for a loan I had taken out in my own name of 100.000 euros, which I later handed over to Duško Knežević," he emphasized.
Responding to a question from the defense, attorney Dražen Medojević, defense attorney for defendant Duško Knežević, said that he viewed all his colleagues from Atlas Bank as his colleagues, not as members of an organized criminal group.
"When the conversion was carried out, I did not consider that I was doing anything illegal," Rašović replied.
When asked by lawyer Dušan Radosavljević to explain how he obtained the status of a cooperating witness, Rašović emphasized that he decided to do so in consultation with his then lawyer, Velibor Marković.
"When I gave the phone code to the SDT, my lawyer explained to me that the prosecution accepted it as a good gesture and that I could get the status of a cooperating witness. I don't know what the essence of the function of a cooperating witness is, except to tell the truth. At that moment, I thought it was better for me to accept it because I was also charged with some other things, including transferring money, eight million," said Rašović.
Defendant Knežević reiterated that the entire case was a political game. He asked Rašović what happened to the so-called Blue Diary and how it reached former Chief Special Prosecutor Milivoje Katnić.
"Why is the paper mentioning Đukanović missing from that notebook?" Knežević asked. Rašović said he knew nothing about it and that he had not been pressured to say anything.
The indictment alleges, among other things, that Dusko Knežević, after his associates converted $110.000 into euros, handed over 47.500 euros to Slavoljub Stijepović. In addition to Duško Knežević and Slavoljub Stijepović, Knežević's associates and friends Branislav Todorović, Živko Šljivančanin, Tamara Krdžić, Goran Grujović and Tomica Knežević are also accused.
The indictment states that in the second half of 2010, Duško Knežević created a criminal group whose members were in charge of withdrawing the money obtained from the illegal activities of several companies and then handing it over to him in order to put it into legal flows.
In the first count of the indictment, Duško Knežević committed the criminal offense of creating a criminal organization from Article 401 a paragraph 1 in relation to paragraph 6 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro, and the defendants Tomica Knežević, Todorović Branislav, Šljivančanih Živko, Grujović Goran and Krdžić Tamara committed the criminal offense of creating a criminal organization from Article 401a paragraph 2 in connection with paragraphs 1 and 6 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro.
In the second count of the indictment, these defendants, as well as Slavoljub Stijepović, as co-perpetrators, committed the criminal offense of money laundering from Article 268 paragraph 3 in connection with paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro.
Bonus video:
