ZAGREB MOB TRIAL TESTIFIES ABOUT DRUG DEALING, FRAUD ZAGREB, Nov 27 (Hina) - The trial of 14 Zagreb mobsters continued on Monday with the testimony of Tomislav Marinac, one of the indictees who agreed to testify in exchange for
exemption from prosecution, and who spoke about drug dealing and business frauds. Apart from drug dealing and economic frauds, said Marinac, "the guys from Knezija (a Zagreb neighbourhood)" tried to include him in an operation to mine the house of a man called Gale. During this part of the testimony, in which the name of the mob's head, Nikica Jelavic, was mentioned for the first time, another indictee, Djordje Vuletic, had to seek medical help. "Gale was my best man," said a visibly shaken Vuletic, whose blood pressure, as doctors confirmed, had increased due to the information which he obviously had no knowledge of. Marinac began today's testimony by elaborating on his statement given last week, when he said that the mobste
ZAGREB, Nov 27 (Hina) - The trial of 14 Zagreb mobsters continued on
Monday with the testimony of Tomislav Marinac, one of the indictees
who agreed to testify in exchange for exemption from prosecution,
and who spoke about drug dealing and business frauds.
Apart from drug dealing and economic frauds, said Marinac, "the
guys from Knezija (a Zagreb neighbourhood)" tried to include him in
an operation to mine the house of a man called Gale.
During this part of the testimony, in which the name of the mob's
head, Nikica Jelavic, was mentioned for the first time, another
indictee, Djordje Vuletic, had to seek medical help.
"Gale was my best man," said a visibly shaken Vuletic, whose blood
pressure, as doctors confirmed, had increased due to the
information which he obviously had no knowledge of.
Marinac began today's testimony by elaborating on his statement
given last week, when he said that the mobsters were establishing
companies with the aim of obtaining large amounts of food products
and appliances with delayed payment, which they never paid for
later. According to Marinac, business frauds were committed also by
forging Payment Transaction Bureau's stamps on payment orders.
The stamps were obtained by Rajko Momcilovic and Davor Zecevic,
who, using the forged payment orders procured different types of
products, which they later tried to sell on the black market. This
lasted until mid 1997, when the drug dealing began, the witness
said.
Rajko Momcilovic called me one day and told me to take a packet of
heroin to the eastern part of the city, Marinac said, adding he had
delivered such packets every ten days and later every third day.
The drugs were obtained from one of the prosecution's protected
witnesses, and Marinac used to deliver packets containing 10, 20 or
50 grams of heroin to different locations in Zagreb.
"This lasted until one of the protected witness was arrested, after
which the Momcilovic brothers, Davor Zecevic and Davorin
Sobjeslavski called me and told me that I should replace him,"
Marinac said.
After joining the drug dealing business, Marinac used to hide the
drugs procured by the Momcilovic brothers, Sobjeslavski and
Zecevic in jars, which he buried at Zagreb's Savica and Zitnjak
neighbourhoods.
From there, he delivered the drugs to customers with whom he would
be connected by some of the "guys from Knezija."
Marinac claims that Momcilovic, dissatisfied with the business,
had talked him into taking a loan for the purchase of a car at
Dubrovacka Banka, so that he could return his previous debt.
"He brought me some forms and told me the amount of my salary I
should write down although I was unemployed," Marinac said, adding
the next day he was to travel to Dubrovnik and buy a new Fiat Marea.
The purchased car was then to be given to Momcilovic's drug supplier
Shatman Bafti as payment for his deliveries.
The trial of the Zagreb mob will continue tomorrow.
(hina) rml