The Employment Service (ZZZ) has for years been paying benefits to participants in professional rehabilitation programs who were not entitled to them, and the possible illegally paid amount from the Fund for Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities amounts to 212 euros.
This is stated in the minutes of several sessions of the Management Board of the Institute, which "Vijesti" obtained based on a request for free access to information.
No accounting, unclear guidelines
It can be seen from the record that in recent years there were no clear guidelines for the officials who approve the payments of these benefits, that the Fund does not have accounting records of payments, that they do not have a detailed overview of the payments of financial assistance because all payments are booked together without separating them by measure. From the session in March, it was announced that reports would be submitted to the prosecutor's office due to these payments, but last week the Government dismissed its representatives in this Steering Committee, whose mandate began in August 2022.
The documents also show that the agenda item on this case was postponed three times, as well as that part of the members of the management board did not want the prosecutor's office to be informed about the disputed payments because the amount of possible illegal payments is small.
These benefits were paid in accordance with the Law on Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities. Only unemployed persons with disabilities and their companions were entitled to them, but from the statements of the participants of the board of directors' sessions and the cited reports, it can be seen that since 2013, the officers of the Professional Rehabilitation Fund have distributed this money to persons who are not entitled to it, with approval the then directors of the Institute - Vukice Jelić, Sulj Mustafić i Goran Folić.
That practice was stopped only at the end of last year, after the Board of Directors adopted such a conclusion on the proposal of the president Dejan Vojvodić, who was dismissed by the government last week.
It can be seen from the minutes that at the session of November 3 last year, Vojvodic said that they had received information that these benefits have been paid for years to people who have no right to them, after which he proposed a conclusion, which was unanimously adopted, that the acting executive director Gzim Hajdinag instructs the Professional Rehabilitation Fund to prepare information on these payments for the next session.
Responsible former management or employee
Head of this Fund Denis Martinovic announced at the session of December 21 last year that 212.508 euros were paid on this basis, as well as that employees in the regional units were sent a warning and an order to act strictly in accordance with the regulations.
Vojvodić then stated that at the beginning of the mandate of this Board of Directors, it was said that no payments from the Fund should be made, and that these were definitely the case.
"It is the responsibility of the previous management and employees in those jobs at the Institute", said Vojvodic, suggesting that the competent sector of the Institute should process these cases ex officio because state money was spent illegally.
Member of the board of directors Dragan Marović (DPS) was interested on the basis of which the regional services paid this compensation, and Martinović replied that they worked on the basis of contracts with professional rehabilitation providers, as well as that the jurisprudence is clear, but that he assumed that they worked on the basis of certain guidelines.
Member of the management board in front of the Union of Employers Suzana Radulović asked whether the State Audit Institution noticed these irregularities during the control of the Institute's finances, and Martinović replied that it had not.
Member Mevludin Dizdarević (BS), according to the minutes, stated that it is strange that the SAI did not notice this illegal payment, as well as that it is not the responsibility of the management and the Board of Directors "but of the employees on this report".
Postponement for the third time
At the session of the Board of Directors on February 7, Vojvodić asked whether, in accordance with the conclusion of November 3, illegal payments and the amount of money were determined and whether the responsible persons were prosecuted. Hajdinaga replied that the situation will be investigated and prosecuted according to the findings, as well as that it should be determined who the persons who committed the alleged abuses are and from what moment. He emphasized that this practice was stopped as soon as the irregularity was established.
This problem was discussed again at the session of February 28 this year, when Vojvodić stated that Martinović informed him that the collection of data was nearing the end and that he requested that the item be withdrawn from the agenda.
Vojvodić stated that this item is being withdrawn from the agenda for the third time and that the material must be completed by the next time because "when such abuses are found, they must be prosecuted".
"Personally, I think that the case should be sent to the prosecutor's office," Vojvodic said then, according to the minutes of the session, stating that he did not want to "be called out, which is why he did not react from the position of the president of the Board of Directors when he found out that state money had been illegally spent." .
At the session of March 7, Martinović states that he thinks that this amount of 212.508 euros is not correct, because "all the spent funds are shown there." He also said that he received feedback from the chief and the counselor for professional rehabilitation that the payments were made according to the instructions they received from the Fund, but that they were not delivered to him. At the time, he said that there were no accounting records or a detailed review of payments, as well as that all aid was booked together.
He also said that the total payments for this compensation amounted to 270 thousand euros from 2014 to 2022. Mevludin Dizdarević stated that based on the report, he came to the figure of 31.214 euros that was illegally paid.
31.000 is not enough for the prosecution
Dragan Marović said that there is a suspicion that some funds were illegally allocated, but that it is more a matter of disciplinary than criminal responsibility.
Suzana Radulović, according to the minutes, believes that "if the employees followed the internal rules, it is not their fault".
"The bottom line is that it is a figure of 31.000 and the stated amount is too small to inform the prosecution. Namely, people were misled because what would have happened if the rule was not respected", said Radulović.
Vojvodić stated that it was obvious that the rule did not exist.
"The fact is that the money was spent contrary to the law, and responsibility must exist, whether it is 5, 100, 31.000 or 212 thousand euros," stated Vojvodić.
Dizdarević said that if someone violates the procedure, he should be disciplined and that "it was not a bad intention of his colleagues". He also said that he had information that there was an internal rule regarding the payment of these benefits, which was against the law.
The board of directors then makes a decision to task the director with determining who and when made the internal rule. Vojvodić states that they respect the decision of the majority, but that if he finds out that funds have been used illegally, and the Institute does not process the suspicious ones, he will do it personally. Hajdinaga said that he will file a report if abuse is found.
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