According to the police report, the Kelmendi brothers are suspected of having used forged documents to obtain Montenegrin identification papers at the Kotor office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP). Liridon’s attempt to obtain documents was thwarted, while Elvis was issued an identification card, a passport and a driver’s license, following an application he had submitted last May.
Interpol reported in 2007 that Elvis Kelmendi owned a passport and an identification card issued in a Montenegrin town of Rožaje, according to a CIN story from last year. Elvis was also mentioned as a Montenegrin citizen with a Rožaje address in a June 2009 verdict from the Sarajevo Municipal Court.
Police arrested Svetozara Popović and Ksenija Mitrović, the head and an advisor with the MUP in Kotor respectively, on allegations that they abused their authority by helping the Kelmendi brothers.
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MUP asked the National Police to start an investigation against Ana Krivokapić, another Kotor officer, but this has not yet happened. Ivan Brajović, Minister of Internal Affairs, Krivokapić, order Mitrović and Popović have been suspended (WHEN).
Elvis and Liridon Kelmendi have a history of problems with the authorities. The municipal court in Sarajevo sentenced Liridon to seven months probation for carrying a weapon without a permit, while Elvis was sentenced to one-year probation for violent behavior.
According to the SIPA report, both of them are members of ‘the Kelmendi criminal group’ headed by their father Naser Kelmendi. This organization allegedly is involved in drug and cigarette smuggling, trafficking, money laundering, and loan sharking according to SIPA.
CIN uncovered last year—citing land and court registries and Naser Kelmendi—that he owned real property in BiH, Montenegro, Serbia, Kosovo and United Arab Emirates.
Kelmendi owns an apartment in Podgorica, and a hotel, a house and a flat in Montenegrin resort seaside town of Ulcinj. He also owns Donata Company, a real estate agency, and 18.683 square meters of land.
SIPA officials said that the Kelmendi organization operates in BiH, Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia, Croatia, Serbia, Germany and the US.
