Bosnian Police Raid Bank Linked to Dodik

Bosnia's State Intelligence and Protection Agency, SIPA, raided the premises of Pavlovic International Bank in the northeastern Bosnian town of Bijeljina on Wednesday.

They entered the bank "under a mandate given by the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is investigating a possible case of illegal transactions", the spokesperson of SIPA confirmed to BIRN.

The police did not specify the exact objectives of the raid. However, the timing coincided with the decision of the main opposition party in Republika Srpska, the Serbian Democratic Party, SDS, to accuse the President of the entity, Milorad Dodik, the administration of Pavlovic Banka and the director of the Banking Agency of Republika Srpska, Slavica Injac, of numerous crimes including corruption.

Mladen Bosic, leader of the SDS, said these persons together organised the illegal transfer of 1,468,373 KM [around ?750,000] to the entity President, Milorad Dodik, when he was the Prime Minister of Republika Srpska.

"In 2007, Milorad Dodik transferred ?750,000 from his account in Pavlovic Bank to his account in Komercijalna Banka in Belgrade, planning to buy a villa in Belgrade," Bosic told a press conference.

Bosic did not mention the origin of the money but claimed the transactions were illegal.

"Only one year later, in 2008, Dodik filed request for a loan from Pavlovic Bank to buy the villa. The bank approved his request. They tried to cover it up, saying that they were just reprogramming his transfer made in 2007. And again, another ?750,000 was transferred to Dodik's account," Bosic said.

Dodik confirmed that he obtained a loan from Pavlovic Bank in 2007 to buy property in Belgrade. "That is a well-known story. I got a credit from Pavlovic Bank in 2007,...