After the NGO Sector Affirmation Network (MANS) published data two days ago on the fictitious export of half a million packs of cigarettes from the Free Zone of the Port of Bar, which probably ended up on the "black market", MANS revealed that the offshore companies that were used for cigarette smuggling have ceased to exist and that their real owners are unknown.
Some of these companies traded cigarettes through the Port of Bar even after they were shut down, even though the Customs Administration should not have allowed them to do so, which indicates serious shortcomings or possible corruption within that institution.
All three companies whose cigarette smuggling was concealed by Playmaker through false exports to Libya have now been shut down.
MANS reveals that two companies were closed while they were trading cigarettes through the Port of Bar Free Zone.
The closure of these companies allowed their beneficial owners to keep their illegally obtained profits and avoid accountability, making it difficult for the Special Prosecutor's Office to conduct criminal proceedings.
One of these companies, ABC Development Corp, was founded in Panama. Its official representatives formally manage thousands of other companies, which shows that they were set up only to conceal the real owner.
This company was suspended in April 2016 for non-payment of taxes and lost its right to operate until the debt was settled, but it continued to import cigarettes to Montenegro. From 2017 to 2019, the company imported over 300 packs of cigarettes. It was shut down in November 2019, but continued to export cigarettes to Libya in 2020 and 2021 in collaboration with the Playmaker company, as previously reported by MANS.
Another Panamanian company that traded cigarettes through the Free Zone through Playmaker is Amenua. Its official representatives also formally hold directorships in hundreds of Panamanian companies, in order to hide the real owner.
This company imported 2019 packs of cigarettes in 2020 and 240, with the help of Playmaker. It was shut down in June 2023, during the Special Prosecutor's Office's investigation into cigarette smuggling.
The official owner of the third company, Lenora International from the US state of Delaware, is Branislav Tomašević from Kosovska Mitrovica. The company's operations were suspended even before it signed a contract with the Port of Bar to operate in the Free Zone, and it imported cigarettes only after it was shut down.
Lenora lost its right to operate after the resignation of its official representative on May 6, 2020, and could only resume operations after a new one was appointed. However, nine days later, on May 14, 2020, the official owner of the company signed an Agreement on the Performance of Activities in the Free Zone with the then director of the Port of Bar. The documentation for the company was submitted by Playmaker, which later also served as Lenora's freight forwarder for the import of cigarettes. Since it failed to appoint a new representative within the legal deadline, Lenora was closed down on June 5, 2020.
In August 2020, a month after the shutdown, the company imported its first cigarettes into the Free Zone of the Port of Bar. By the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021, the company had illegally imported almost 130 packs of cigarettes.
During the same period, she also fictitiously exported cigarettes to Libya, using the same mechanism as ABC Development Corp and Amenua, with the support of the Playmaker company.
The Customs Administration did not prevent the operations of defunct companies despite the legal obligation, which indicates serious shortcomings or corruption within this institution.
The Special State Prosecutor's Office has initiated criminal proceedings against the companies ABC Development Corp and Amenu on suspicion that they were part of a criminal organization that smuggled cigarettes, organized by Đorđije Pavicevic, the owner of Playmaker.
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