Mlađen Kekerović, a businessman from Laktaši, pleaded guilty to a series of white collar crimes and was sentenced to ten years in prison. He will also forfeit 4 million KM in assets. This is the biggest sentence for white collar crimes in the post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina according to the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).
Kekerović admitted to organized crime charges, money laundering, tax and customs’ evasion, tampering with evidence, taking down or damaging an official stamp and aggravated theft.
Also, two Laktaši-based companies that Kekerović was representing — MB Kekerović and Trgopromet Dragan– reached a plea bargain with the prosecutors.
“This decision will help in the prosecution of numerous criminal cases worth millions which were directly or indirectly linked to the company,” according to a press release issued by the BiH Prosecutor’s Office.
Along with Kekerović, seven other persons have been charged in the case: Radovan Kekerović, Zoran Pavlović, Slobodan Gojković, Slobodanka Zrnić-Babić, Goran Todorović, Predrag Vidić i Biljana Trivundža, while Aleksandar Vuković and Dejan Amidžić where charged with the connected offences as part of another case.
The case also deals with the following companies: Laktaši-based MB Kekerović and Trgopromet Dragan; Banja Luka-based Zoral Komerc and Liberty; Bosanski Brod-based Ceresol; Modriča-based “Woodland Zemlja i šume“ and Novi Grad-based „3-mart.“
