The owners of Guard Security Popovic, Srdjan (42) and Igor (40) Popovic, and the company CEO Radojka Majic (32) have been remanded in custody for thirty days since yesterday on suspicion of evading taxes and contributions in the amount of €577,265, their lawyer Dragoljub Petrovic told Pobjeda.
According to him, the Popovic brothers and Majic have been detained due to the possible influence on witnesses.
According to sources close to the investigation, in addition to the company’s business, police are checking the Podgorica subsidiary of the Belgrade-based Mr Stefan Braun company co-owned by the Popovic brothers along with Serbian nationals Predrag Zivkovic and Aleksandar Nikolic.
The company Mr Stefan Braun Montenegro was opened several years ago as a subsidiary of the Belgrade-based company which runs clubs Mr Stefan Braun in Podgorica and Budva. It is suspected that the Popovic brothers, Nikolic and Zivkovic pumped out money from Montenegro through the Podgorica-based branch office. They allegedly did that using a usual manner – financial embezzlements as they did in the Guard Security Popovic company, Pobjeda’s source said.
According to the Central Registry of the Commercial Court in Podgorica, the Popovic brothers have a 10% stake in the Mr Stefan Braun Montenegro company each, whereas Zivkovic and Nikolic are majority owners of the company, having a 40% stake each.
The Popovics and the Guard Security Popovic CEO Radojka Majic were arrested a few days ago on suspicion of avoiding paying taxes and contributions on wages from July 2011 to May 2014.
They are also suspected of hiding information on the generated profit, thereby evading the determination of the actual liability of corporate income tax for 2012 and 2013. According to the investigators, the suspects have cost the state budget €577,265.
In addition to the fraud related to meeting tax obligations, the investigation is focused on collecting evidence that could confirm suspicions of money laundering.
