The indictment of the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT) contains the claim that a member of the accused group, Prokopije Perić, acted on the instructions given to him by Sander Stanaj, ordering cigarettes from Bulgaria for the company "International Tobacco Trade" from Bosnia and Herzegovina. The case concerns the former owner of Rokšped, Sander Stanaj, former police and ANB official Duško Golubović, Perić, the former director of Rokšped, and a number of other individuals.
"The goods that were taken out of the Free Zone of the Port of Bar without customs clearance were imported into it through the actions of a member of the criminal organization, the defendant Prokopije Perić, who accepted the tasks transferred to him by the defendant Nuo Stanaj on behalf of and for the account of the criminal organization to procure cigarettes from Bulgaria, by ordering them for the company DOO 'International Tobacco Trade' from Bosnia and Herzegovina, through communication by e-mail or in another way with a female person named Tereza, from Bulgaria, a representative of the KT International Sofia factory, but also by directly meeting with her in Bulgaria," the indictment states.
Chobanov explains that the two owners of KT International – Anton Shterev and Atanas Petrov – have a long history of violating customs regulations and are registered in cases of bribing officials to conceal their activities and ensure impunity.
"They were close business associates of the Bulgarian oligarch Delyan Peevski. Peevski was the owner of the Bulgartabak company, which is designated in official reports by Turkish authorities as one of the main cigarette smugglers. He was sanctioned for corruption by the United States under the Global Magnitsky Act, as well as by Great Britain. Given the influence that Peevski has over the Bulgarian police, customs and prosecutor's office, I do not believe that any serious law enforcement measures will be taken in Bulgaria against the company KT International," says Chobanov.
He claims that Petrov and Shterev have well-established ties to oligarch Delyan Peevsky, who is under sanctions under the Magnitsky Act.
“These two are known as ‘Pesačit’ and are also the owners of the company ‘Vinprom Peštera’. They are the real, ultimate owners of the company ‘KT International’, which exported cigarettes to Russia worth more than $1.3 million after the start of the war in Ukraine. ‘Pesačit’s’ connection with Deljan Peevski was revealed in investigations into cigarette smuggling through the company Bulgartabak, owned by Peevski, several years ago. In addition, Peevski and the founders of ‘Vinprom Peštera’ were partners in the now-defunct retail chain ‘Lafka’,” Chobanov said.
The indictment of the Montenegrin prosecutor's office, in addition to Duško Golubović and Sander Stanaj, also includes the former director of "Rokšped" Prokopije Perić, the owner of the "Petanović" pharmacy Andrija Petanović, Mileta Simanić, Adnan Suković, Predrag Madžgalj, Dejan Milić, Radoje Dakić, Ivan Turčinović, Vukota Vujošević, as well as Stanaj's fugitive brother Nuo, Veton Berišaj, Đoko Lješković and Abedin Pepić.
The prosecution charges them with forming a criminal group and smuggling millions of cigarettes from the Free Zone of the Port of Bar during 2020 and 2021.
Comments