Former Minister of Defense Predrag Boskovic did not form a criminal organization that damaged the budget by 31.220 euros with fictitious orders, through a travel agency.
This was stated by the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT), rejecting the criminal complaint of the Ministry of Defense (MoD) against Bošković and former officials of that government department. Mihail Volkov, Alma Ljuljanaj Jovićević.
The head of the Ministry of Finance, Marko Drobnjak, will be responsible for the fictitious accounts, according to the prosecution files.
According to the claims of the special prosecutor Saša Čađenović, he is responsible for the misuse of state money, and he is also suspected of misleading Bošković, the former head of the Directorate for Material Resources Ljuljanaj Jovićević and Volkova, the former general director for human resources in the Ministry of Defense.
"In relation to the reported Marko Drobnjak, head of the Finance Department at the Ministry of Defense and an unknown person from the tourist organization Marco Polo travel agency, your criminal report has been submitted to the jurisdiction and further proceedings of the Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica, due to the existence of a well-founded suspicion that he committed an extended criminal the offense of abuse of official position... and the NGO person from the tourist organization Marco Polo travel agency committed the extended criminal offense of abuse of position in business operations", the decision reads.
It was explained that Drobnjak had the capacity of an official, but not a public functionary, as well as that this is not the competence of the SDT and for the reason that the acquired property benefit does not exceed the amount of 40.000 euros.
Minister of Defense Olivera Injac at the end of June, she filed a criminal complaint for illegal spending of state money during the mandate of her predecessor Bošković.
She wrote that the registered persons, with fake orders, paid for seminars that were never held...
THEY DIDN'T LISTEN TO BOŠKOVIĆ?
Prosecutor Čađenović states in the explanation of the decision that during the investigation process, in his capacity as a citizen, he interviewed several persons - Drobnjak, Djordje Brajović, Radmila Bulajić, Goran Radusinović, Andrijan Mijušković, Andrije Pešić, Milica Vuković, Bojan Kovačević, Alma Ljuljanaj Jovićević.
There are no Bošković and Volkov on that list.
According to SDT files, during the investigation, Čađenović collected documentation of legal entities "Marco Polo travel agency", "VL Mobile", "2R Travel", "Athos real estate & apartments", Hotels Group Montenegro stars, Hotel Crna Gora and Savana continental property management and lodging - Hotel Ramada.
On August 4, 2021, Drobnjak told the prosecutor that he was not in charge of providing hotel accommodation for foreign delegations, seminars, workshops...
He also said that on December 1, 2020, the Tourist Agency submitted an invoice for hotel accommodation in the amount of 4.620 euros, but that the Ministry of Defense has a need to provide hotel accommodation almost every day, which is why he made the payment.
THREE SEMINARS IN 15 DAYS
He gave the same explanation for the payment of seminars allegedly held in the hotels "Hilton" from July 15 to 18, 2020, "Splendid" from the 20th to the 23rd of the same month and "Ramada" a few days later - from the 27th to the 30th of July.
"He says that the invoices were paid according to the contract, considering that the data from the invoice matches the concluded contract with the 'Marco Polo' agency. His job description did not include whether or not seminars were held, nor was he required to perform a check before paying for the specified or similar invoices," the documents say.
Brajović admitted to the prosecutor that his agency "Marco Polo" did not organize those seminars, explaining that he wrote the invoice according to Drobnjak's instructions, and then transferred the money to the account of the agency "2R travel".
He explained the same for the payment of the overnight stay at the "Hilton" hotel, but also for the invoice they received from the company VL Mobile, which amounted to 5.511,5 euros.
"The goods indicated in the invoices were not received by their agency, nor were they delivered to them," he said in front of the prosecutor, adding that even then he was informed by Drobnjak that he would receive an invoice from the supplier.
The director of that company, Radusinović, however, claimed that they had delivered electronic devices to the agency, and the director of "2R Travel", Radmila Bulajić, said that she collected the debt from the Ministry of Defense with invoices for seminars that were not held...
Employees of three Montenegrin hotels - Pešić, Vuković and Kovačević - said that during the period when this was indicated in the invoices, neither the tourist agency nor the Ministry of Defense organized seminars at their place.
THEY SIGNED BUT NOT GUILTY
Although they established that the services that were invoiced were not provided, that Bošković and Volkov issued a certified order for payment, and Ljuljanaj Jovićević certified a statement that the service was performed, the prosecution did not find grounds to prosecute them.
"From the established factual situation, the evidence obtained and the necessary notifications in the investigation procedure, this prosecutor finds that there is no evidence for a well-founded suspicion that the reported Predrag Bošković organized a criminal organization whose goal is to commit criminal offenses for which, by law, a prison sentence of four year and a heavier sentence, while the other reported persons Mihailo Volkov, Alma Ljuljanaj Jovićević, Marko Drobnjak and NN persons from the Marco Polo travel agency became members of a criminal organization, as it is unfoundedly stated in the criminal complaint," it is written in the explanation of the decision to dismiss the criminal charges. applications.
Injac states in the application that fake meetings were organized during the corona virus epidemic, and some even after the parliamentary elections in which the party whose officials are DPS, was left without a majority to form the Government.
In the application to the SDT, the suspicion is expressed that the money paid to the agency was subsequently divided among themselves by the "criminal group" and that it was about payments of 4.000, 5.000 and 6.000 euros each.
"There is no evidence for a well-founded suspicion that the above reported persons have joined together in an organized manner for the purpose of committing criminal acts of abuse of official position and abuse of official position in business operations, for the purpose of obtaining illegal profits, in which each member of the criminal organization has clearly defined roles in order to realize of a criminal plan, and what would constitute an essential characteristic of the criminal offense is the creation of a criminal organization," the decision reads.
They could not know if the services were provided
The prosecutor assessed that Bošković, Volkov and Ljuljanaj Jovićević, when they approved the payment from the state account, could not know whether the services listed in the invoices were actually provided or not.
"Already, in this particular case, only Marko Drobnjak knew about the reported persons who performed certain functions in the Ministry of Defense," the decision reads.
The Ministry of Defense did not respond to Vijesta's questions about whether they had received a decision from the SDT rejecting their application, as well as whether Drobnjak would be subject to disciplinary proceedings. The question of whether they will appeal the SDT's decision also remains unanswered.
Bonus video:
