Bosnia: 3 ex-Sberbank Employees Nabbed for Money Laundering

Published: 06 September 2019

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State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) arrested three former Sberbank employees

By Imelda Cengic

Authorities in Bosnia arrested on Thursday three former Sberbank employees who are suspected of money laundering and have allegedly deprived the bank of more than one million Konvertible Marks.

 The State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) said the three are suspected of “'abuse of position and authority' and of laundering BAM 1,094,626.30 (US$617,192.41).

 The Sarajevo Cantonal Court and Prosecutor’s office ordered the arrest and the raid of three locations, with SIPA confiscating documents that could help investigators.

 According to SIPA, from 2016 to March this year, the three used their personal bank accounts to make electronic purchases of foreign currencies according to exchange rates that were not valid on the dates the conversions were made.

 Sberbank told OCCRP that the three were former employees of the Global Markets sector and that the bank fired them six months ago when it discovered the scheme and reported it to the authorities.

 The bank said in its statement that it was fully supporting the actions taken by authorities.

‘’Sberbank BH points out that none of the bank’s clients were harmed by the abuse” and that ‘’professionalism, transparency and integrity are the bank’s core values. The bank has zero tolerance for those who act contrary.’’