The trial of defendant Duško Knežević and other defendants in the "carbon credits" court case continued today at the Higher Court in Podgorica with the hearing of witnesses.
Witness Tatjana Obradović stated that during 2010 she was the executive director of RTV "Atlas". She said the financial situation at the television station was bad, and at the end of the summer there was no money coming in from marketing and advertising. Therefore, as a manager, she decided to take out a loan of 100.000 euros from IBM Bank.
"It was the end of the summer season. There was no money from marketing. It was really complicated. I made the decision to take out a loan. Because RTV 'Atlas' could not provide funds for salaries. That loan was used to pay salaries to RTV 'Atlas' employees. The moment the loan was 'laid', the salaries were distributed. I don't know why that loan was even the subject of interest of the Special Prosecutor's Office. This was an absolutely regular and correct business. The decision to take out a loan to pay salaries to employees of that media house," the witness said.
She added that, during the interrogation at the prosecutor's office, she felt pressured to say that someone had persuaded her.
"I was absolutely independent in making decisions at RTV 'Atlas'. The loan is not a made-up story. I felt pressure from the prosecutor to state that I concluded the loan agreement at someone's instigation. I claim that I made the decision about the loan independently, together with my associates. No one tried to influence me. It was a completely justified business decision," she stated.
She added that she informed the President of the Board of Directors, Mihailo Banjević, about the operations of RTV "Atlas" at his request.
When asked by the court, she replied that she was not aware of the existence of the legal entity "Global Karbon".
Witness Dijana Zečević stated that she had no connection with the business of the company "Global Karbon doo". She added that she was surprised at all that she was called as a witness because she has no connection with the operation or with this court case "karbon".
The president of the special chamber, Judge Igor Đuričković, scheduled the trial to continue on March 5, when two witnesses are scheduled to be heard.
The indictment against Duško Knežević alleges, among other things, that Knežević, Predrag Dašić, Zoran Nikolić, Brankica Bašović and Biljana Bašović caused damage to the legal entity "Global Karbon" DOO Podgorica, and obtained unlawful benefits in the amount of 1 euros from the legal entities "Fin Invest", "Atlas Grupa", RTV "Atlas", "RT Mimoza", "Atlas Sistem" and "Mega Gulf Investments Holdings Limited".
The indictment states that the special prosecutor states that from business and financial documents it follows that Knežević organized a criminal group during 2008, and that this follows from the statements of the defendants' defense as well as from the statements of the cooperating witness Đorđe Đurđić.
During 2008, the prosecution claims, the defendant Duško Knežević organized a criminal organization on the territory of Montenegro that operated until the end of 2017, whose members included the other defendants, as well as Đorđe Đurđić - a cooperating witness in this case.
The defendants, according to the indictment, intentionally incited Biljana Bašović, executive director of the company "Global Karbon", founded by Invest Banka Montenegro AD Podgorica, with the intention of obtaining unlawful material gain. Thus, in December 2008, Duško Knežević made a decision to transfer 1.000.000 euros in the account of "Global Karbon" with IBM Bank, originating from the founding capital paid by the founder of IBM Bank, to the account of the non-resident legal entity "Mega Gulf Investments Holdings Limited", with Atlas Bank in Moscow for the purpose of closing the loan that this legal entity has with Atlas Bank in Moscow, whose repayment period has expired.
The basis for the aforementioned transfer of money was an agreement on the alleged purchase and sale of carbon credits, which will not take place. It was agreed that "Mega Gulf" would allegedly purchase carbon credits in the name and on behalf of "Global Karbon", which agreement served as the basis for the realization of the aforementioned financial transaction. The transfer order was completed by Brankica Bašović, and certified with her signature, and the transfer of funds in the amount of one million euros was carried out from the "Global Karbon" account to the "Mega Gulf" account.
The indictment also mentions the loans arranged by Knežević, when, in order to realize the criminal plan, he made the decision that IBM Bank approves a loan to "Global Carbon" in the amount of 500.000 euros, and that the means of securing the return of the loan will be a deposit of "Global Carbon" in in the amount of EUR 500.000, which, without the decision of the founder of IBM Bank, will be given from the founding role of that legal entity which was paid by IBM Bank to the legal entity "Global Karbon".
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