Serbian Post Confirms Voucher Fraud, Officials Sacked
Translated from Serbian, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.
At a glance
- Serbian authorities are investigating alleged fraud in the distribution of tourist vouchers, with evidence suggesting involvement of postal workers.
- A Serbian parliament member revealed a scheme where numerous vouchers were delivered to the same addresses under different names, raising suspicions of manipulation.
- Posta Srbije confirmed irregularities, leading to disciplinary actions against two officials and a handover of documentation to law enforcement.
Allegations of widespread fraud in Serbia's tourist voucher program have surfaced, with a Serbian parliament member claiming postal workers were involved in a sophisticated scheme.
Workers of the Post Office are not the BIA, nor the police, but, imagine, they 'caught' who and how is stealing tourist vouchers.
Jelena Miloลกeviฤ, a member of the opposition Party of Freedom and Justice (SSP), presented documentation suggesting that a large number of vouchers were delivered to identical addresses, often with different names but the same phone numbers. She pointed to a specific address in Niลก, the street of a local post office manager, as an example of this alleged manipulation.
Different last name, same delivery address, same phone number. And so we have a bunch of vouchers that ended up at the same addresses, with different last names and names.
Miloลกeviฤ further alleged that many of these vouchers were used in the same accommodation facilities, some linked to postal officials or their associates. She stated that thousands of vouchers ended up with postal managers and other individuals, a problem she claims is widely known.
This is just the tip of the iceberg, as thousands of vouchers ended up, both in the hands of postal managers and officials, and in the hands of other individuals. And the problem is that everyone knows it.
Posta Srbije, the national postal service, has confirmed that an internal audit identified "certain shortcomings" in the voucher distribution process. The company stated that strict controls were implemented last year to prevent preferential treatment or "vouchers for friends." Following the audit, disciplinary and personnel measures were taken. Two Niลก postal officials, deputy branch director Srฤan Radonjiฤ and first-class manager Saลกa Nedeljkoviฤ, have been dismissed and are facing prosecution, with documentation submitted to the criminal police.
analyzed by the internal audit of Post of Serbia and stated certain shortcomings, and based on its findings, disciplinary and personnel measures were taken.
Originally published by N1 Serbia in Serbian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.