The trial of defendant Duško Knežević, accused in the "Caspian 1" and "Caspian 2" cases, continued today at the Higher Court in Podgorica.
The trial is being led by Amir Đokaj, as a single judge.
In the continuation of the evidentiary proceedings, the findings of economic and financial expert Borka Boričić were read, with her opinion and conclusion.
The judge read out a finding stating, among other things, that Knežević was paid two million euros in two installments, and then 2.400.000 euros, by the legal entity THH "Investment limited Dubai", and that the purpose of the payment was to purchase shares in the "Princes" hotel. The finding stated that 1.291.000 euros were paid.
Responding to questions from lawyer Dušan Radosavljević, defense attorney for defendant Knežević, Boričić said that she received the order for the expert examination from the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT).
She stated that money was paid into Knežević's account from the legal entity THH "Investment Limited Dubai", and that the Swift message dated March 5, 2014, stated the purpose of the payment - the purchase of shares in the "Princes" hotel.
"From the documentation available to me, it is established that on March 5, 2014, a transfer of two million euros was made. The Swift message stated that the purpose of the payment was to purchase shares in the 'Princes' hotel. I did not inspect the purchase agreement dated January 14, 2014. I did not find anything controversial regarding the documentation. As for the payments from Duško Knežević's account, I had access to the account statements and from my point of view there was nothing controversial regarding the transactions," said Boričić.
Knežević asked on what basis THH "Investment Limited Dubai" paid him the money.
Boričić reiterated that the purpose of the payment was to purchase shares in the "Princes" hotel, and that she did not know whether the legal entity THH "Investment limited Dubai" was a contracting party.
She added that she did not have in her possession the assignment agreement between the three contracting parties THH "Investment limited Dubai", "Kaspija Propertis" and Duško Knežević.
Knežević added that Boričić did not fully process the case because of this.
He added that "without the allocation of money, they cannot go to bed."
Assignment is a special form of settlement of obligations. With assignment, the issuer of the order (assignant, sender) gives an assignment by which he instructs the recipient of the order (assignat, sender) to pay a certain amount to a third party (assignor, receiver of instructions). It is a business activity that settles the obligations and claims of legal entities in a single transaction, which significantly reduces transaction costs, as explained in economic literature.
Lawyer Dušan Radosavljević pointed out that the expert report was conducted based on scant documentation.
"Expert witness Boričić did not have access to the basic contract of January 14, 01, but the SDT, without any evidence, tried to present the transfer of 2014 euros as money of criminal origin, and that Duško Knežević wanted to steal that money. Although that was not the expert witness's intention, I conclude that there is no evidence that he 'laundered' money," said the defense attorney.
He added that when you look at everything, with the money Knežević had at his disposal, he did everything transparently.
"Nothing was secret because this money was not of criminal origin. Duško Knežević had control of the money and the outflows from the account were in Atlas Bank. All payments related to payments within the Atlas Group. He did not pay the money to launder and keep it. The largest amount of one million euros, which was paid to Knežević on December 17.12, 2014, was paid on December 15, 22, based on the decision on recapitalization of December 2014. The expert's report confirmed that the accusations were unfounded," concluded lawyer Radosavljević.
In the cases "Caspian 1" and "Caspian 2", the defendants are Duško Knežević and Đorđe M. Đurđić, who had previously concluded a plea agreement.
The indictment of the Special State Prosecutor's Office charges Knežević with committing the criminal offenses of abuse of position in business through incitement and money laundering, all in connection with the sale of the 'Princes' hotel in Bar.
Knežević is charged with the indictment of the special prosecution for the criminal offense of abuse of position in business operations by incitement and Đurđić for the criminal offense of abuse of position in business operations.
The indictment states that on May 20, 2015, Knežević deliberately persuaded Đurđić, the chief executive officer of "Atlas banka" AD Podgorica, to sign a guarantee and certify with an official seal the guarantee for "Kaspia Properties Holdings Limited" from Dubai, for 12,5 million euros.
He stated that the principal is Knežević, and that the beneficiary is "Kaspia Properties", and that it guarantees that "Atlas Bank" will pay this company a maximum of this amount of 12,5 million euros, for the purchase of the "Princes" hotel.
The appellate court ruled that "Atlas banka", as the guarantor for the money that Knežević took, is obliged to pay the full amount plus default interest.
The court found that Duško Knežević received the amount of 14 million euros under the purchase agreement dated January 2014, 12,5, of which eight million euros pursuant to the signed receipt of money received and the customs declaration dated January 14.1.2014, 5, as well as by transferring from the account the amount of two million euros on March 2014, 11 for the purpose of paying for the shares of the "Princes" hotel and the amount of about two and a half million on March XNUMX for the purpose of paying the second installment for the purchase of the shares of the "Princes" hotel, the verdict stated.
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