Former minister arrested in corruption case

Former minister arrested in corruption case

BELGRADE -- Former Minister of Telecommunications Jasna Matić was arrested on Wednesday morning, it has been confirmed.

Beside serving in the cabinet of Prime Minister Mirko Cvetković, she was previously at the helm of the Serbia Investment and Export Promotion Agency (SIEPA).

Matić is suspected of illegal activities while at the agency. Three other former SIEPA chiefs - Božidar Laganin, Vesna Perić, and Bojan Janković - have also been detained on suspicion that they abused their official position.

The police said on Wednesday that the four are suspected of concluding 1,339 fake authorship contracts from 2006 until 2013, thus incurring RSD 119 million damage to the budget, and enabling other persons to illegally gain a further RSD 91 million.

The contracts were signed with persons already employed by SIEPA and concerned work that was already part of their job description. This practice was in violation of several laws, it has been announced.