INDICTMENT FILED AGAINST FIVE PERSONS FOR ORGANISED CRIME AND ILLICIT TRADE IN EXCISE PRODUCTS

The indictment includes four natural and one legal entity-company, and the evaded excise duties and levies amount to at least BAM 3.2 million.

A Prosecutor of the Special Department for Organised Crime, Economic Crime and Corruption filed an indictment against the following accused:

1.    Seid Papračanin, born in 1981 in Kotor, residing in Tuzla, a citizen of BiH,

2.    Ifet Papračanin, born in 1959 in Goražde, residing in Tuzla, a citizen of BiH,

3.    Tomislav Matić, “Grandfather Tomo”, born in 1940 in Belgrade, residing in Lončari, a citizen of BiH,

4.    Boris Čato, born in 1989 in Travnik, residing in Vitez, a citizen of BiH,

5.    Legal entity B-Label d.o.o., Vitez, with its registered office in Vitez.

The accused are charged that in the course of 2017 and 2018 they, acting as an organised criminal group, illegally purchased tobacco in leaves through several companies in the area of Posavina, in the quantity of almost 100 tonnes.

They then cut the tobacco contrary to the legal regulations and sold it without calculating and paying excise duty which in 2017 and 2018 amounted to BAM 100 per kilo of tobacco, in which way they acquired unlawful material gain and inflicted damage to the budget and all citizens of BiH.

The indictment alleges that it is certain that the accused cut about 30.6 tons of tobacco and thus evaded excise duties in the amount of about BAM 3.2 million.

The accused legal entity - company, was used only for the purpose of committing the criminal offence, as the BiH legislation does not provide for a possibility for natural entities to sell tobacco in the said condition and quantities.

The illegal cutting of tobacco by means of appropriate mechanisation was carried out in the Tuzla area.

While carrying out an operation in the said case, police officers seized a larger quantity of tobacco and processing equipment.

The Accused are charged with the criminal offences of Organised Crime (Article 250 of the BiH Criminal Code) and the Illicit Trade in Excise Products (Article 210a of the CC BiH).

The Prosecutor’s Office will prove the allegations from the indictment by calling about thirty witnesses and expert witnesses to testify and by submitting several hundreds of evidentiary materials.