The state demands 60.000 euros from Perović?

The state requests that the director of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption Jelena Perović returned almost 60.000 euros as the difference between the price at which she received the apartment on preferential terms and the market price of that property.

This follows from the minutes of the main hearing in the dispute between Montenegro and Perović for compensation of the market value of the apartment that she received on favorable terms because she violated the contract that she, as a judge at the time, signed with the Basic Court of Cetinje in early 2018.

The Basic Court of Podgorica concluded the main hearing two days ago, and the verdict is expected in a month at the latest.

During the main hearing, the report of an expert in the construction profession was read, which evaluated the property of almost 87 square meters, which Perović received under special conditions, and then sold.

"The representative of the prosecutor (the state) states that he specifies the claim in such a way that it remains the same as at the preliminary hearing, with the fact that he specifies, in accordance with the findings and opinion of the expert, the amount of EUR 58.539,70, and the same represents the difference between the market value of the apartment, which was determined on on January 11, 1, in the amount of EUR 2018, which the defendant paid," according to the minutes of the main hearing in the Basic Court in Podgorica before the judge Mirza Ademović.

The state initiated the dispute against the director of the Agency after the initiative of the Network for the Affirmation of the Non-Governmental Sector (MANS), at the end of November 2022.

MANS then appealed to the institution of the Protector of Property and Legal Interests to request compensation for damages on behalf of the state due to non-fulfillment of the contractual obligation when purchasing an apartment on favorable terms.

According to the contract, which was then submitted by MANS to the institution of the Protector, Perović did not fulfill the obligation stipulated in the contract - she did not remain in the position of judge for five years, i.e. until 2023, but moved to the head of the Agency, and sold the apartment.

Attorney Perović, lawyer Nikola Martinovic, during the main hearing, he pointed out that "the chronology indicates who was registered as the owner" and that it can be seen that the buyer "acquired the apartment from the Basic Court in Cetinje, not from the defendant".

"She only took over rights and obligations from the defendant," claimed Martinović during the main hearing.

The contract for the purchase of an apartment under special conditions stipulated the obligation of Perović to remain in the position of judge for five years.

Jelena Perović's house arrest was extended in mid-June. Special prosecutors suspect her of abusing her official position and damaging the state budget by more than 100.000 euros.

"By the decision of the judge for the investigation of this court, in the phase of regular control, against the defendant JP, the monitoring measures of the ban on leaving the apartment, the ban on access and meeting with certain persons and the temporary confiscation of the travel document were extended, due to the existence of reasonable suspicion that she had committed the criminal offense of abuse of official position from art. 416 paragraph 2 in connection with paragraph 1 and art. 49 of the Criminal Code", the spokeswoman of the High Court recently told "Vijesta". Marija Raković.

The Special State Prosecutor's Office opened a criminal case after the Ministry of Finance submitted to them the results of the Agency's control related to the year 2023 - last year Perović worked as much as 310 hours of overtime, for which she signed an amount of 5.212,10 euros, and was on call also on holidays - May 22 and 23 and July 13 and 14 last year, for which she paid herself daily allowances in the amount of 536,78 euros.

She wrote herself overtime and variables, for which she received almost 13.500 euros, which, according to the finding, is contrary to the Law on Salaries of Employees in the Public Sector. She collected an additional more than 8.700 euros for work in the Working Group for determining the list of public officials.

According to the data from the minutes of the Budget Inspection, for the period from January to June last year, Perović paid the members of the former Council at least 10.000 euros more than what is prescribed by law...

The property was not increased even by the sale of the inherited apartment

In mid-June, the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption announced that Perović was not obliged to report the sale of the inherited apartment in 2022 and the change of property exceeding 5.000 euros.

That decision was signed by her assistant Nina Paović, who assessed that it was not about the increase of Perović's property, but about its transition from immovable to movable.

"And what evidence the Agency gave full faith to, it will appreciate as clear and true," the decision reads.

"Vijesti" announced in February that Perović hid from the public the sale of the apartment and the income of 70.000 euros, and official data on the Agency's website show that she did not submit a special report 30 days after she sold the inherited property.

According to the documentation available to "Vijesti", which was obtained with the help of the MANS platform for supporting investigative journalists, she sold the apartment in September 2022, and before concluding the contract on the sale of the property, she was paid 22.000 euros.

That money was not reported in a separate report, while the rest of 48.000 was used to close the loan she had in one of the commercial banks operating in Montenegro.