Officers from the Police Crime Sector, Department for Combating Corruption, Economic Crime and Conducting Financial Investigations have filed two criminal charges with the Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Bijelo Polje, against two companies and five individuals, on suspicion of damaging the state by almost 200.000 euros.
This is the result of continued activities in cooperation with officials from the Tax Administration and the Employment Service, as part of the action codenamed "Lockdown".
"The action relates to the detection and criminal prosecution of natural and legal persons who, through their fraudulent actions, mislead employees of the Employment Agency - the Fund for Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities, in order to obtain illegal material gain by making payments of subsidies for persons with disabilities," the Police Directorate explained in a statement.
A criminal complaint has been filed against the company "A." from Bijelo Polje, its executive director SR (36), founder M.Č. (47) and bookkeeper-accountant BM (46) - all from Bijelo Polje - on suspicion that they committed the following criminal offenses: fraud in extended duration and forgery of a document in extended duration, "by the commission of which they obtained unlawful material gain in the total amount of 147.415,50 euros, to the direct detriment of the budget of Montenegro".
"In the proceedings leading up to the filing of the criminal report, it was determined that the reported persons committed qualified criminal offenses by continuously during 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024, with the intention of obtaining unlawful material gain for themselves and the legal entity, misleading a civil servant employed at the Employment Agency of Montenegro - Professional Rehabilitation Fund by falsely presenting facts, by submitting falsified bank statements on allegedly paid personal income for three employees, in order to transfer funds from the account of the Main State Treasury to the account of the reported legal entity under the name of subsidies for persons with disabilities, even though the reported legal entity did not perform any economic activity nor were the individuals actually employed, but were fictitiously registered as employed," the statement reads.
Criminal charges have also been filed against the company "P." from Bijelo Polje, the executive director NH (37) and the accountant BM (46), all from Bijelo Polje, on suspicion of having committed the criminal offenses of fraud in extended duration and forgery of documents in extended duration, "by the commission of which they obtained unlawful material gain in the total amount of 49.523,70 euros, to the direct detriment of the budget of Montenegro".
"In the process leading to the filing of a criminal complaint, it was determined that the reported persons committed qualified criminal offenses by continuously during 2023, 2024 and 2025, with the intention of obtaining unlawful material gain for themselves and the legal entity, by falsely presenting facts, misleading a civil servant employed at the Employment Agency of Montenegro - Professional Rehabilitation Fund, by submitting falsified bank statements on allegedly paid personal income for two employees, in order to transfer funds from the account of the Main State Treasury to the account of the reported legal entity under the name of subsidies for persons with disabilities, even though the reported legal entity did not perform any economic activity, nor were the natural persons actually employed, but were fictitiously registered as employed," the police say.
As determined during the inspection by officers of the Department for the Fight against Corruption, Economic Crime and the Conduct of Financial Investigations, the exclusive goal of establishing the reported companies "A." and "P." is the fictitious employment of persons with disabilities and the exercise of the right to subsidies from the Employment Agency of Montenegro, but not on the basis of performing economic activities, but on the basis of fictitious jobs, "which is unequivocally indicated by the evidence collected during the investigation."
"These illegal actions based on the illegal payment of subsidies caused total material damage to the budget of Montenegro in the amount of 196.939,20 euros," the statement reads.
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