Police and judicial authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina have opened several investigations into possible money laundering in the country during 2012, with the assumption that at least 15 million euros of suspicious origin have been funneled into legal financial channels, reported Sarajevo’s Dnevni avaz on Sunday.
Citing sources from the financial intelligence department of the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA), the newspaper states that seven reports of criminal offenses suspected of money laundering have been submitted to the prosecutors so far.
“Reports have been filed against 36 individuals and 14 legal entities suspected of committing 20 criminal offenses. The amount of money suspected of money laundering reported in the reports exceeds 30 million convertible marks,” stated a source from SIPA.
During 2012, the agency was informed of 90 suspicious financial transactions that immediately became the subject of investigations based on the provisions of the Law on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorist Activities.
From financial intelligence services of other countries, SIPA received 37 requests for verification of accounts opened in BiH, while at the same time, a verification of 47 accounts opened abroad was requested from BiH.
Suspicious financial transactions are typically linked to material gains obtained from bribery, corruption, drug and arms trafficking, and tax evasion, but all data regarding ongoing investigations remain confidential until the completion of checks and potential indictments.
The American institute “Global Financial Integrity” (GFI), which monitors and analyzes suspicious financial transactions, estimated that at least 836 million dollars of unclear origin have been transferred from BiH to countries considered tax havens in the past ten years.
