BANJALUKA – The special department for combating corruption, organized and the most serious forms of economic crime of the Public Prosecutor's Office of Republika Srpska has since yesterday checked the allegations of criminal charges against the Minister of Finance Zora Vidović and the owner of the company “Grand Trade” Mile Radišić.
They are charged, together with five other persons, as a criminal group for abuse of official position or authority, trading in influence, non-execution of a court decision, conclusion of a harmful contract, abuse in the public procurement process and bribery.
In addition to Vidović and Radišić, with this criminal report, which arrived at the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina a month ago, and was forwarded to the RJT of Republika Srpska only after we sent questions, Radišić's sons and co-owners of the company “Senet” Srećko and Renato are also charged with the aforementioned crimes.
The report also includes accusations against the director of “Lutrija RS” Goran Šaula, as the former chairman of the commission for the selection of a strategic partner, who then became the director of EVL and eventually of “Lutrija”, Slobodanka Popović, assistant to the Minister of Finance and member of the Lottery's Board of Directors, and Žarko Kukić, a lawyer in this ministry.
Vidović exceeded her authority
“A file has been submitted for competent proceedings in connection with the criminal complaint against Zora Vidović, the Minister of Finance of Republika Srpska, Mile Radišić, Srećko Radišić, Renat Radišić, Slobodanka Popović, Žarko Kukić and Goran Šaula”, confirmed for CAPITAL the Secretary of the RS Prosecutor's Office, Dragica Tojagić, and added that the case has been assigned to the acting prosecutor who will verify the allegations of the application.
According to the allegations of this report, the mentioned group committed several criminal acts through their actions, independantly and organized, by which they obtained illegal financial benefits.
“The Minister of Finance Zora Vidović overstepped her legal authority and by direct actions influenced the process of selecting the best bidder, the formation of a joint venture between the Lottery of Republika Srpska and “Casinos Austria VLT AG” Switzerland, as well as all further actions that were undertaken in order to operate that company and acquisition of property benefits. Mile Radišić, the former director of the “Lutrije RS”, the mastermind of the attempt to privatize Lutrije without real, legal privatization, and that those against whom this criminal complaint is being filed have the exclusive benefit of the same. Their joint criminal actions brought Lutrije to the brink of collapse, while the above-mentioned persons obtained and continue to obtain financial benefits”, the report states.
The first step, according to the application, was the adoption of a new Act on games of chance under an urgent procedure and the creation of a joint monopolistic enterprise for organizing electronic games of chance, which created a monopoly over other private organizers of games of chance.
Radišić took advantage of his social position
“Institutions are also used to control all other games of chance, and the frequent changes in the rules only benefit EVL and “Senet”. Vidovićka has on several occasions exceeded her legal authority, and abused her official position, by refusing to comply with the decision of the Constitutional Court, which declared unconstitutional the articles of the Decree on giving consent to the selection of the best bidder for the establishment of a joint venture. The same was the case with the decision of the District Court, which annulled the selection of the best bidder, as well as when it obliged the organizers of games of chance in Srpska to pay the costs of maintaining a new computer system for the second time”, the report states.
They claim that Mile Radišić, using his social position and by promising and offering financial benefits, directly influenced the course of events, and obtained and continues to obtain financial benefits from all criminal acts.
“Radišić's sons are the owners of the company “Senet”, which serves to commit the crime of laundering money illegally acquired through criminal activities related to games of chance. Slobodanka Popović is an assistant to the Minister of Finance and a member of the Board of Directors of Lutrije for two mandates (which is a conflict of interest), the chief legal advisor to Zora Vidović and the person who put Mileto Radišić's illegal ideas into a quasi-legal framework. Žarko Kukić is a lawyer in the Ministry of Finance of Srpska, the godfather of Slobodanka Popović, who employed him in the Ministry, a member of the commission for the selection of a strategic partner of the Lottery, later awarded the positions of state capital representative in Lutrije and representative of the capital of Lutrije in EVL (both a conflict of interest)”, it is claimed in this report.
Minister Vidović previously denied her involvement in these affairs several times.
CAPITAL: Andrijana Pisarević