Disputed signature forces "Uniprom White Bauxite" into bankruptcy

The legal team of the Israeli bankruptcy trustee Lior Dagan filed a criminal complaint against the "unknown perpetrator" who forged the signature of the executive director of the company "Uniprom White Bauxite" Zlatan Halilović on the statement of open items acknowledging the disputed debt to "Uniprom metals" of 363 thousand euros.

In the application submitted to the basic state prosecutor's office in Podgorica, which "Vijesti" had access to, it is stated that Halilović told them that he did not sign such a document and that it was not his signature. Based on the disputed signature, public bailiff Radovan Koprivica blocked the company's account for that amount.

The claim relates to the alleged sale of a limestone crushing and separation plant and a substation. In the application, Dagan believes that the plant, even though it was sold, is incorrect and that its value is several times lower than the amount stated on the disputed invoice. He believes that this was done in order to drive the company into blockade and bankruptcy, and thus prevent him from collecting the trustee's money from Israel.

Dagan was declared by the Israeli and American authorities as the authorized trustee who should take over and collect the assets owned by Michael David Greenfield, who was convicted in Israel of defrauding investors from whom he took money for alleged investments.

He invested part of the money acquired through criminal activities in companies in Montenegro, as well as in Veselin Pejović's Uniprom group.

In April 2021, Greenfield was arrested in Israel and placed under house arrest, from which he escaped under a false identity to Montenegro, and then to Bosnia and Herzegovina, where he was arrested and extradited to Israel.

Based on the authorization, Dagan acquired the right to take over all of Greenfield's assets and investments, thus taking over his 80 percent stake in the company "Central European Investments" from Podgorica, which owns the company "Uniprom White Bauxite". While Halilović had a 20 percent share.

"Uniprom White Bauxite" owns about 840 thousand square meters of land in the town of Stubica near Nikšić, also since June 2020 the company has a concession for detailed geological research and exploitation of mineral raw materials of white bauxite and technical-building stone at the nearby "Međeđe" deposit. . The concession contract was signed for 30 years.

If the company were to be declared bankrupt, it would lose the right to that concession. When the concession was signed, the owners of the company were 50 percent each of "Uniprom Metali" of Veselin Pejović and "Central European Investments" of Grinfield and Halilović.

In the report, Degan also states that "Uniprom White Bauxite" and "Uniprom metals" had their headquarters at the same address in Nikšić, and that this could facilitate the forgery of signatures.

Dagan's lawyers submitted an objection to the Commercial Court against the blocking of the account, but it was rejected because the creditor "Uniprom Metali" submitted a signed statement of open items by which "Uniprom White Bauxite" allegedly acknowledges the disputed debt. They state that the state prosecutor can raise a request for protection of legality against a legally binding court decision due to a significant violation of the provisions of the civil procedure, if the court based the decision on so-called illegal dispositions, that is, forged signatures.

"Vijesti" sent questions to Uniprom regarding this case and the criminal complaint, and they asked the company for the journalist to come to them and get information in a direct conversation. When "Vijesti" asked to receive a written answer to the questions, the company eventually announced that it would not answer because the public would only be partially informed that way.

Correspondence on bringing in and taking out 6,5 million

Degan has a correspondence between Pejović and Greenfield from October 2021, which is quoted in the application and in which Pejović states "Due to complications with your business outside of Montenegro, which you informed us about in the fifth month of the current year, we accepted that due to such a situation prevented from actively participating in the business of our system".

In the same letter, Pejović informed Greenfield that he became the owner of 100 percent of the company "Uniprom White Bauxite", while he remained in possession of "Uniprom Bentonite". The application states that this is not an accurate statement because 50 percent of the share in "Uniprom White Bauxite" was compensated with 6,5 million euros of debt that Pejović and his related persons had towards Greenfield, and that 50 percent of the share in "Uniprom Bentonite" transferred free of charge. In the application, it was stated that in other proceedings it will be determined how Pejović brought 6,5 million euros into "Uniprom White Bauxite" in order to appropriate the stated amount.