Novi Sad: four people suspected of money laundering in public procurement case
Novi Sad's Higher Public Prosecutor's Office ordered the deprivation of liberty of I. P. (45), S. J. (57), N. M. (49) and V. N. (58) in an investigation into fourteen public procurements worth around 271 million dinars.
Members of the Anti-Corruption Department of the Ministry of the Interior deprived I. P. (45), S. J. (57) and N. M. (49) of their liberty in Novi Sad, according to a statement issued on 4 May by the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad. On the prosecutor’s order, a fourth person, V. N. (58), was not placed in detention on grounds of poor health, but a criminal complaint has been filed against her.
All four suspects are charged with several criminal offences. I. P. is charged with abuse of office as an accomplice, money laundering, abuse in connection with public procurement, tax evasion, value-added-tax fraud and falsification of an official document. S. J., said to be a former senior official at the Novi Sad Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments, is charged with continuing abuse of office and trading in influence.
N. M., said to be an employee of the “Novi Sad 2021, European Capital of Culture” Foundation, is charged with negligent performance of official duty. A criminal complaint has been filed against V. N. for continuing abuse of office, the prosecutor’s office says.
The investigation is focused on fourteen public procurement procedures worth around 271 million dinars in total, carried out within the framework of the European Capital of Culture project and at other institutions in Novi Sad. The prosecutor’s office has reasonable suspicion that contracts were awarded to a single company outside the procedure prescribed by law, causing damage to the public budget.
On the prosecutor’s order, searches were carried out at several flats and business premises in and around Novi Sad in order to obtain documentation, electronic devices and financial records. During the searches, items for which there is reasonable suspicion of a link to the offences were temporarily seized.
A 48-hour holding order was imposed on three of the suspects, after which, in line with regular procedure, they were brought before the acting deputy public prosecutor for questioning. The prosecutor’s office has not stated which measures were proposed to the court after questioning.
The offence of money laundering under Article 245 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Serbia, where the value of the laundered property exceeds one and a half million dinars, carries a prison sentence of one to ten years. Abuse of office under Article 359 of the Criminal Code, where the unlawful gain exceeds one and a half million dinars, carries a prison sentence of two to twelve years.
The next procedural step is the issuance of a decision to conduct an investigation, after which the prosecutor’s office will gather evidence, question witnesses and order expert examination of the financial records. Under the Code of Criminal Procedure, this process can last up to six months, with the possibility of extension.
