WE ARE INVESTIGATING How the former director of ZOI’84 Alispahić “lost” more than 5,000 ski tickets

The inspection concluded that the smallest damage due to the missing tickets was more than 203,000 KM. The Prosecutor’s Office is verifying the allegations of the Office for the Fight against Corruption. The current director also reported the former for breaking into the office, and the former claims: I paid all the fines. It’s a closed case, write Interwiew.ba.

The Prosecutor’s Office of Sarajevo Canton is checking the inspector of the Directorate for Indirect Taxation of BiH about the “disappearance” of 5,067 ski tickets from the KJP ZOI’84 during 2019.

– The case is in the phase of checking the allegations from the application. Therefore, actions are being taken to verify the allegations in order to determine whether there are elements of a criminal offence – it was pointed out in the answer from the KS Prosecutor’s Office.

Previously, the Office for the Fight Against Corruption and Quality Management, to which this case was reported, informed us that “the case was forwarded to the Sarajevo Canton Prosecutor’s Office”.

We will therefore have to wait for the answers, but it is important to say that we started from a standstill in checking irregularities, which have been following the Cantonal Public Enterprise ZOI’84 for years.

The media wrote for a long time and widely about numerous irregularities, illegal actions, hiring without competition… And the criminal complaint filed by the current director of ZOI’84 Kenan Magoda (SDP BiH) reveals what happened immediately after he succeeded Nevres Alispahić as the head of this company (SDA).

Missing in action

In September 2019, the inspectors of the Indirect Tax Administration observed several very significant cases of abuse, which concern the sale, disappearance, and giving away of ski passes, but also the mysterious disappearance of heating oil, fuel oil, and bitumen.

Director Magoda then turned to the Office for the fight against corruption, because it is evident from the inspector’s findings that the former management, headed by the former director Alispahić, damaged the company for at least 177,345 KM just on the missing ski tickets, although it is reasonable to suspect that the amount is much larger.

In the inspection report, it is written, among other things, that a review of the circulation of tickets for the use of ski lifts in Bjelašnica and Igman – Malo Polje was carried out for the period July 1, 2017, to June 30, 2019, and that data related to the circulation and issuance of ski tickets was downloaded through the verified SKI – DATA system.

During the inspection, according to the inspectors, it was established that 108,591 tickets were issued through this system in the specified period.

– An inspection of the taxpayer’s bookkeeping documentation (KJP ZOI’84. op. aut.) revealed that the issue of ski tickets in the amount of 141,429 pieces was recorded on the said account. Of these, 12,400 pieces were used for panoramic sightseeing, which is not recorded through SKI – DATA, and 15,193 tickets were returned, based on the list made by the Commission of the controlled entity, and 41 tickets were replaced due to damage and unusability, and 137 tickets which in the control procedure was determined to be for the national team. Tickets in the amount of 137 pieces were taxed, and such tickets should have been accepted as tickets that should not be included in the total amount when determining unregistered tickets – the inspectors state.

They further state that at the end of March 2019, the then-director Alispahić made a decision on the list of ski tickets that were undamaged, and according to that decision, it was determined that 15,193 tickets were returned.

Tickets are money
It was further stated that on September 5, Allispahić also made a decision to accept the record on the list of ski tickets after the 2018/2019 winter season, and “the legal entity submitted an analytical card of the warehouse in which the debit of 15,193 tickets was recorded.

– According to such established situation, during the control, it was determined that 5,067 tickets were issued, but not recorded, nor was the corresponding tax calculated on them – the inspectors added.

For this purpose, they also show a simple calculation operation.

(141.429 – 12.400 – 15.153 – 41 – 137 – 108.591 = 5.067)

The current director of ZOI’84, Kenan Magoda, explains that it is obvious that the disputed 5,067 tickets have not been fiscalized, they have no “financial exit”, but they are not in the balance either.

– So, they disappeared somewhere, were alienated, taken away. When KJP ZOI’84 buys a ticket, it is scanned and only then becomes active. This means that it can be regularly sold, but also given away, and smuggled on the black market. What we know now is that these tickets were not sold regularly, and they are not here – he says.

However, this is not the problem of the inspection, which considers that the tickets that passed the system and were scanned were sold in the regular way, but did not pass the tax procedure.

– Tickets are money and anyone who has contact with them can benefit – from the director to the worker who sells them. It is not a small sum of money. So multiply and see what digit it is – recommends Magoda.

And before us, inspectors multiplied and counted again.

Since there are no tickets, it is difficult to determine which type of ticket has disappeared, because the prices differ considerably. For example, a daily ticket is 35 KM, a seasonal ticket is 420 KM, a five-day ticket is 180 KM, and a weekend ticket is 70 KM.

– The inspectors concluded that VAT must also be paid on those tickets that are not there. So they calculated the mildest variant, and the middle was found. The calculation showed the least damage to the company – says Magoda.

And here is what the inspectors wrote:

– Given that it was not possible to determine what type of ticket it was, this authority applied the provisions of Article 22 paragraph 4 of the Rulebook on the Application of the VAT Law, which stipulates that the market value is defined as the total amount that the buyer would, in order to acquire the item goods or services at that moment, had to pay the supplier of goods/service providers with whom he has a business relationship in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the same phase of trading in which the turnover of goods or services occurs and under conditions of loyal competition.

With a simple calculation, the inspectors further calculated:

5.067 x 35 = 177,345

Well, on that figure, there is still a tax of 25,768.

As a result, it turns out that the damage caused by the missing tickets to the company ZOI 84 was at least 203,113. Provided that all the missing tickets are daily tickets, which are sold at a price of 35 KM.

– That’s the minimum damage. We must not even think about what would happen if the price of a season ticket or, say, a “100 points” ticket was calculated. Not to mention the tickets that were distributed as a national team, 137 of them, on which no tax was paid either – adds Magoda.

He sent his criminal report to the Office for the Fight against Corruption and then filed a new one against the former director Alispahić, who, as he says, waved the report of the ITA BiH inspector during a TV appearance.

But more on that later.

Alispahić: I won’t strain my back anymore
First, let’s hear what Alispahić has to say about the “missing ticket” case.

– That’s a finished story and I wouldn’t talk about it anymore. I paid the fine for that, it doesn’t even matter to me anymore. In fact, they were coupons for baby lifts, they were not tickets, stickers that are given to children for baby lifts so that they have a place to keep their tickets. They weren’t tickets. It wasn’t even worth 100 KM – says Alispahić for Interview.ba.

When asked why he still paid the fine, when he claims that he is not responsible, he answers:

– Well, that’s because I allegedly spent it inappropriately. I paid the inspection, actually the Cantonal Court. A fine punishment, for which I will certainly not strain my back again. You strain your back so that everything is as it should be and then you pay the fine. I paid for everything out of my own pocket.

When asked what the figure was, Alispahić did not want to go into details:

– It’s a nice figure. A car can be bought with it.

In response to our statement that the case is in the Prosecutor’s Office, he says that he does not expect “that it will go any further”.

However, he knows that the investigation into the criminal complaint against Kenan Magoda is still ongoing because Alispahić showed the inspector’s report on the TV show.

– I reported Alispahić that he broke into the office, and entered it. I don’t know how else he would have gotten the inspection report. Let him tell the police where he got the official document – says Magoda.

Alispahić claims again that he told everything to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

– The police called me. I told them what I told you. See with the journalists. It was given to me, actually sent by a journalist, who invited me to the show after a press conference held by Magoda. I told the reporter that I didn’t know what the new director was talking about, so he sent me the record. I also told the police that – Alispahić points out.

When asked how he responds to many more accusations, the disappearance of oil, and the hiring of 16 new workers, Alispahić points out:

– The woman booked the fuel oil incorrectly, instead of the administration building she booked it to Bjelašnica. This happened two days before I was to be fired. Some workers stole 3.5 tons of oil, so they accused me, and I was no longer the director. They replaced me and I couldn’t do anything. You can’t do anything in two days – he says.

And he repeats that all the stories about ZOI’84 are a closed case for him.

Not yet for judicial authorities!