Lekić: I have evidence of the origin of the money, it was supposed to be spent on the purchase of family real estate

Lawyer Damir Lekić announced that he has evidence of the origin of 90.000 euros found in his car, and that the money, as he stated, was supposed to be spent on the purchase of family real estate.

He was arrested on the orders of the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT) when he attempted to enter Montenegro from Serbia at the Dobrakovo border crossing. He did not report to the police that he was carrying cash while crossing the border.

He was released to defend himself from custody, and after the hearing, two supervision measures were imposed on him - a ban on leaving his residence and a ban on approaching or meeting with certain persons.

Lekić stated in a statement that on August 13th at around 7:30 p.m. he was stopped by border police and that the vehicle he was driving was "purposefully separated from the convoy and parked to the side." He said that the police conducted an inspection that "more resembled a search of the vehicle, and on that occasion 90.000 euros were found in my possession.

"This is completely legal and lawfully acquired money, and I have complete documentation and other evidence regarding its legality and legal acquisition, which I immediately reported to the police on that occasion. Although it is a private matter, I will still report it. It was supposed to be used to purchase a certain family property, but the legal transaction did not take place that day. Unfortunately, despite the fact that I immediately reported the above to the police, there was still a major and serious misunderstanding, to my detriment, because objectively there was no possibility of obtaining that documentation and other evidence on the spot last night in order to prove those indisputable facts, because they were in Podgorica, and the arrival of the police from Podgorica, which was ultimately responsible for handling this incident, in Bijelo Polje took quite a long time, so taking that into account, as well as some other circumstances, some of which, to be honest, also concerned me personally, we ended up at around 03:30 a.m. when I "I was deprived of my liberty and taken to Podgorica, where I was questioned by the Special State Prosecutor at around 9 am, which lasted until around 11 am, due to the existence of reasonable suspicion that I had committed the criminal offense of money laundering, which is completely wrong, incorrect and absurd," said Lekić.

He adds that he has responded in detail to all the circumstances requested by the state prosecutor and has proposed evidence for all his claims.

"The state prosecutor proposed to the court that two supervision measures be imposed on me, namely a ban on leaving the apartment and a ban on access to and meeting with certain persons, since in the further course of the proceedings it is necessary to hear a certain number of witnesses whose testimonies, all things considered, can only support me and my claims and in no way support the state prosecutor's office. Following that proposal, shortly after, at around 12 noon, I was heard before the investigating judge of the High Court in Podgorica, who found that the state prosecutor's proposal was partially founded and did not accept his proposal to impose a supervision measure of a ban on leaving the apartment, but instead imposed a supervision measure of a ban on leaving the municipality and a supervision measure of a ban on access to and meeting with certain persons, and I was released to freely go about my business, that is, home."

Lekić also states that after the prosecutor questioned him, he began to conduct other evidentiary actions, namely questioning certain witnesses and collecting other evidence:

"I am one hundred percent sure that all this evidence will only benefit me and my defense, and not the prosecution, and at the same time he has set new dates for the hearing of other witnesses and the collection of evidence, which will also only benefit my innocence," Lekić said.

He points out that "for every euro found, I have evidence of its origin, that is, that it is legally and lawfully acquired money":

"And that there was no need at all for the police and the state prosecutor's office to act in this way because in the end it will all come down to a simple minor customs violation for which a fine is prescribed before the competent Court for Misdemeanors, and there will be no room for charges by the Special State Prosecutor's Office of Montenegro for the criminal offense of money laundering because the money simply does not originate from any illegal action or illegal activity, on the contrary, everything is clean and legal," Lekić stated.