UP: Turkish citizen suspected of evading more than 44.000 euros in taxes

BC (47), a Turkish citizen and executive director of the company "AM" from Podgorica, is suspected of evading more than 44.000 euros in taxes.

This was announced today by the Police Administration (UP).

"Officers of the Crime Prevention Sector - Department for Combating Corruption, Economic Crime and Conducting Financial Investigations, together with officers of the Financial Intelligence Sector, and in coordination with the Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica, filed a criminal complaint against the legal entity 'AM' doo Podgorica and the executive director of this legal entity BC (47), a citizen of the Republic of Turkey. Namely, it is suspected that this legal entity and the responsible person in the legal entity committed the criminal offense of tax and contribution evasion in an extended period and the criminal offense of money laundering," the UP statement states.

The police added that BC, as suspected, as the founder and executive director of the company, acting in the name and on behalf of that company, continuously during January, February, March and April 2025, in order to avoid tax duties, transferred money from the account to his personal accounts and withdrew money in cash without adequate business documentation, thereby obtaining unlawful material gain in the total amount of 44.042 euros based on evasion of personal income tax, which also represents material damage caused to the state budget of Montenegro.

"In the proceedings leading up to the filing of the criminal report, it was determined that BC committed the criminal offense of money laundering in a manner that, knowingly and with the intention of concealing the origin of the money, knowing that it was acquired through criminal activity, transferred funds from the account of the suspected legal entity to his personal account at a commercial bank in Montenegro, and then on the same day, implementing the second phase of the criminal offense of money laundering, the so-called 'layering', redirected smaller amounts from his account via e-banking to the accounts of third parties, who are foreign citizens, attempting to integrate the funds acquired through criminal activity into legal flows, in order to conceal the origin of the illegally acquired funds through the appearance of legal spending, or transactions," the statement states.

The Police Department said that the total material damage caused to the Montenegrin budget by the above-mentioned criminal acts amounts to over 44.000 euros.

"Officers of the Crime Prevention Sector, within the framework of a national project of permanent character codenamed 'Evasion', continue with intensified, targeted and priority activities, aimed at exposing and prosecuting responsible persons from the economic sector whose criminal actions directly disrupt the economic order of the state," the statement reads.

They also stated that, through strong inter-institutional cooperation and coordinated activities with the competent authorities, decisive measures are being taken to protect the economic interests of citizens and preserve the budget of Montenegro.

"The 'Evasion' operation represents a decisive systemic response by the state to tax and financial fraud, with the clear goal of strengthening responsibility, legality and financial discipline in all segments of the economy," the UP statement concluded.