Former acting director of the public utility Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS), Milorad Grčić, and 14 other people have been arrested on suspicion of having abused their official position and authority in connection with public procurement, causing EPS to suffer damage of more than one million euros, said Chief Prosecutor of the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade, Nenad Stefanović, today.
He said at a press conference that Grčić, the current president of the Belgrade municipality of Obrenovac, and 14 other people were arrested after "a thorough pre-investigation procedure regarding the rigging of public procurements in EPS."
"An investigation has been launched against them on suspicion that they abused their official position and authority in connection with public procurement and damaged EPS by more than one million euros. Some of the defendants are also charged with receiving and giving bribes in the form of monetary gifts, which they further concealed by committing the criminal offense of money laundering," the prosecutor stated.
He announced that the prosecution would order the launch of a financial investigation against the suspects "and persons associated with them."
"This is the beginning of a major campaign to combat corruption, and I expect further implementation in the coming days, about which the public will be informed in a timely manner," said Stefanović.
Tanjug news agency announced this morning that it had been confirmed that Grčić was arrested on the orders of the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade.
Beta news agency reported that, on the orders of the Special Department for Suppression of Corruption of the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office (VJT) in Belgrade, members of the Criminal Police Directorate arrested the former acting director of JP Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS) MG and 14 other people due to the existence of grounds for suspicion that in the period from 2018 to 2021, by committing various criminal offenses to the detriment of the aforementioned public company, they obtained material gain for themselves and others, which they then funneled into legal cash flows.
The Chief Public Prosecutor of the Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade, Nenad Stefanović, said that an investigation will be conducted against these individuals due to the existence of grounds for suspicion that they abused their official position and authority in connection with public procurement for the PE EPS and damaged that PE by more than 100 million dinars, in which amount they obtained unlawful material gain for themselves and others, the Public Prosecutor's Office announced.
Some of the defendants are also charged with giving and receiving bribes in the form of monetary gifts, which they further concealed by committing the criminal offense of money laundering, Stefanović stated.
The prosecution, he added, will also order the launch of a financial investigation against the suspects and persons associated with them.
"This is just the beginning of a large, announced campaign to combat corruption, and in the coming days I expect further implementation, about which the public will be informed in a timely manner," the Chief Public Prosecutor announced.
In addition to MG, the coordinator of the ICT Sector at JP EPS IM, an employee in this sector NS, the director of the company "Tim Systems" TA, the actual owner of "Tim Systems" AP and the responsible person in that company NV, the director of PD "IntellSec" MB, the director of PD "HRC Horeca" MM, as well as KM, PG, MR, IR were arrested by order of the prosecutor's office.
Also arrested were the head of the Department for Technical Protection Systems and Information Security in the Sector for Automatic Data Processing, Branch of RB Kolubara, Lj.S, director of the Football Club "Borac" from Lazarevac, DB and KB
The suspects are charged with the criminal offenses of "abuse of official position", "abuse of position of a responsible person", "money laundering", "accepting bribes", "giving bribes" and "trading in influence".
All of them have been ordered to be detained for up to 48 hours, within which time they will be brought in for questioning.
See more:
Download the app and follow the news
FOLLOW US ON
