Nenad Stefanovic (BETAPHOTO/MILAN OBRADOVIC)
Chief Public Prosecutor of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office Nenad Stefanovic said that over the past four days, following requests by his office, the Criminal Police Directorate arrested 50 individuals, three were on the run, and 58 criminal reports had been filed.
The chief prosecutor said in a Feb. 16 interview with the Serbian state-owned RTS television that those arrested were accused of a wide range of corruption-related offenses, including abuse of office, money laundering, bribery, and influence peddling.
Stefanovic added that the prosecution was conducting a financial investigation and would later issue decisions on asset seizures. For now, the accounts of those arrested have been frozen, he explained.
Regarding the 15 people arrested for fraud at the Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS) power utility, committed between 2019 and 2021, the chief prosecutor explained that there was no delay in action, but that prosecuting corruption in real-time was impossible, because inherent evidence collection involved covert surveillance, recording, document analysis, and the involvement of experts.
Among the people arrested on suspicion of money laundering is Dusan Rafailovic, chairman of the Board of Directors of the Institute for Standardization of Serbia. He is suspected of converting and transferring assets acquired through criminal activities to conceal and falsely represent their illegal origin. The value of the assets reached a total of EUR 625,454 and RSD5,36 million.
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