February 2 (SeeNews) - Bosnia's Prosecutor's Office said on Tuesday it has issued indictments against 16 people for the embezzlement of funds through now defunct lender Bobar Bank in what is considered to be one of the biggest financial scams in the country.
Sixteen people are charged with financial crimes and misconduct causing damages of approximately 122.5 million marka ($67.7 million/62.6 million euro) to citizens, businesses and legal entities in Bosnia, the Prosecutor's Office said in a statement.
The accused are charged with having seized control over all affairs of Bobar Bank a.d. Bijeljina, acting as a group of connected persons, and hence making possible the approval of multimillion loans without adequate collateral to Bobar Group- affiliated legal entities, the Prosecutor's Office said.
This led to collapse of the bank, whose operating licence was revoked in late 2014.
"Considering the fact that health institutes, electricity distributing companies, municipalities and other legal entities, as well as individual citizens have invested funds in the bank, its collapse has directly or indirectly caused damages to many citizens of both Bosnia's entities, as well as the Brcko District," the Prosecutor's Office said.
The Prosecutor’s Office added that it will call to the stand some 60 witnesses.
Problems with Bobar Bank bank began to surface in 2014, following the death of its owner Gavrilo Bobar. The bank shortly went into liquidation and its operating licence was revoked, leaving some 206 employees jobless and numerous clients at risk of losing their deposits.
Bobar Bank was based in Bijeljina, in the Serb Republic, which together with the Federation forms Bosnia and Herzegovina.
(1 euro= 1.95583 marka)