They sold four halls for 401,000 KM, and registered five to the new owner

The TC Solidarity Union has been warning for years about the bankruptcy mafia, that is the bankruptcy judges, bankruptcy trustees and experts who are a very important link, as well as some lawyers and court presidents. All this, they claim, is a scheme, writes Interview.

Written by: Edin SKOKIĆ

The solidarity union of the Tuzla Canton has been warning judicial institutions and the public for years about murky actions in bankruptcy proceedings that last forever. The latest in a series of, as they point out, murky actions was discovered during the sale of the assets of the company “Rudarinvest” from Banovići.

On April 5, 2017, the bankruptcy trustee Enver Ćosićkić published an advertisement for the sale of four office buildings in the company owned by “Rudarinvest”, but Mirsad Dedić from the Creditors’ Committee quite accidentally discovered at the Land Registry Office of Banovići Municipality that five halls were registered to the new owner.

What if the error was not detected?

Sakib Kopić, president of the TC Solidarity Union, recalls that Ćosićkić advertised for the sale of four halls with their land.

– All that is fine, but later, in my opinion, the crime was discovered. The registration of five halls was discovered and the TC Solidarity Union immediately informed the judicial institutions. We asked a public question about how it is possible for someone to sell four halls and register five. For years we have been warning about the bankruptcy mafia, that is the bankruptcy judges, bankruptcy trustees and experts who are a very important link, as well as individual lawyers and court presidents. It’s all a scheme. In this case, we suspect that the new owner received one hall for free from the bankruptcy trustee – says Kopić.

A Numbers Game

Mirsad Dedić, a former employee of “Rudarinvest”, now a member of the Creditors’ Committee, says that a criminal complaint was submitted to the Prosecutor’s Office of Tuzla Canton, but they did not receive any response.

– The new owner Ibrahim Lapandić bought four halls for 401,000 KM. Now I don’t know if it was a game of numbers, because halls were sold under serial numbers 1, 2, 3 and 5. There was no hall under serial number 4. And when I took out the land registry extract, it was also registered to the new owner. Later, the brown coal mine “Banovići” is included in the whole story, claiming that it is their hall. But the question arises why the mine did not claim its assets when the bankruptcy was opened. Hall 4 is supposedly not there, there are foundations because there used to be an assembly warehouse there. However, it was registered along with 15 dunums of land to the new owner. The bankruptcy trustee came, he is sending us to the federal agency, so we will see how this will be resolved – says Dedić.

The bankruptcy judge admitted the mistake

However, Kopić wonders what would have happened if this case had not been discovered or if it was a mistake that, as he claims, was admitted by bankruptcy judge Biljana Novak.

– Biljana Novak admitted her mistake, but I assume mistakes must be answered for. They are trying in every possible way to bridge this case. I am convinced that someone received money for a hall that was not the subject of the sale, and it was registered to the new owner. They want to terminate the bankruptcy proceedings in “Rudarinvest” and that is good, because the bankruptcy trustee Enver Ćosićkić will not receive compensation of 2,000 KM per month. Everyone is “excusing” themselves because a mistake was made. And what would have happened if the error was not discovered? Well, that’s exactly what the bankruptcy mafia is doing, which is destroying this country through bankruptcy proceedings. Not a single bankruptcy administrator has been arrested, and I said a long time ago that 99 per cent of bankruptcy judges, bankruptcy administrators and experts should be arrested for manipulations in bankruptcy proceedings – Sakib Kopić was decisive.

Investigations are being conducted

The TC Cantonal Prosecutor’s Office points out that in cooperation with the Criminal Police Department of the TC Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Department for Combating Economic Crime, they are conducting investigations following a report from the TC Solidarity Union in connection with reported irregularities during the sale of property of the bankrupt debtor “Rudarinvest” from Banovići.

– Per the order of the TC Cantonal Prosecutor’s Office, relevant checks and investigative actions are undertaken, as well as an analysis of exempted documentation and other evidence obtained. In the near future, we expect that the Police Department of the TC Ministry of Internal Affairs will submit a report to this Prosecutor’s Office regarding the checks carried out. Therefore, it is a case in which checks of reported actions are carried out and no prosecutorial decision has been made – says Admir Arnautović, spokesperson of the Cantonal Prosecutor’s Office of TC.

We returned the hall to the bankrupt?

In the Tuzla Municipal Court, they state that on April 5, 2017, the bankruptcy administrator published an advertisement for the sale of the property of the bankrupt debtor. They point out that the subject of the sale were office buildings marked with numbers 1, 2, 3 and 5.

To our inquiry as to whether the bankruptcy judge Biljana Novak has knowledge that the new owner of commercial buildings in the economy under numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 has been registered in the Land Registry Office of the Municipality of Banovići, the Municipal Court responded:

– Yes, the acting judge is aware of the above-mentioned circumstances during the procedure.

When we ask how it is possible for an office building in the economy under number 4, which was not the subject of the sale, to be registered to the new owner, the court answers:

– The business buildings were registered on the basis of the final decision of court number: 32 0 134 997 13 ST from June 12, 2019, against which the decision was not appealed, and which became final on June 26, 2019.

The Tuzla Municipal Court states that activities have been undertaken to return the office building numbered 4 to the ownership of “Rudarinvest”.

– Office building number 4 was returned to the ownership and possession of the bankruptcy debtor “Rudarinvest” Banovići, which was discussed with the legal successor of the real estate buyer on 18.7.2022. In 2008, the Agreement on the transfer of ownership rights and possessions was concluded without compensation, for the purpose of correcting the entry, which was processed and certified by a notary – they state in the Tuzla Municipal Court.

The buyer paid 401,000 KM for buildings 1, 2, 3 and 5, and the value of hall number 4 was not assessed. In the Tuzla Municipal Court, they could not give a precise answer about its value. By the way, the buyer Ibrahim Lapandić was in the management of the brown coal mine “Banovići” for a long time and one of the closest associates of Mirsad Kukić, the former leader of the BiH Democratic Action Movement (PDA BiH) and a person who is on the American blacklist.

Sold for nothing

Hall number 4 is linked to RMU “Banovići”, which allegedly claims the right to that property, and at the end, Sakib Kopić provides information on who was among the owners of “Rudarinvest”.

– You will be shocked when you see the names. The first is Bahrudin Šarić, a professor, then we have Mirsad Kukić… They didn’t pay people contributions and salaries, so they pushed the property into bankruptcy, which was later sold for nothing – concludes Sakib Kopić.

By the way, “Rudarinvest” had a similar activity to the “Transport Device Factory” from Tuzla, and during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the workers worked for the needs of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In the bankruptcy proceedings, the workers received some money, and the member of the Committee of Creditors, Mirsad Dedić, says that the workers’ seniority is not tied to an average of ten years.

Nothing remained of the property. Only the disputed hall number 4 remains.