Nishlije pissed off Americans for $ 70 million!

As “Blic” finds out, the 11 suspected programmers, KK, KF, AK, MP, US, NK, AS, AS, MM, ND, BR and NM, denied the US allegations and stated that they did not want extradition. On that occasion, her defense attorneys also stated that they indicated to the acting judge several reasons why Nislija should not be tried in the United States, but in Serbia.

According to one of the defendants ‘defense attorneys, Milan Petrovic, the defense questioned the United States’ request, because it believes that it does not contain the elements that any extradition act should have.

– It does not contain the prescribed form that such request must have. No evidence was presented on the basis of which it could be confirmed beyond the limits of doubt that the suspects created bogus investment platforms and cheated North Texas citizens out of $ 70 million, Petrović claims.

Investigator statement

As he himself says, the only thing in the extradition request is the statement of the investigators, who briefly expressed what the developers are suspected of. The evidence, the allegation, how many were harmed, who was paid the money and who took the money, are not listed in this document.

– We have not been provided with any material evidence, there is not a single statement from the injured parties in the United States on the basis of which we can determine that this is really what they are charged with. The only allegations are information from investigators describing that the developers misled several North Texans for money. We argue that no one can be charged on the basis of the information and there must be evidence to corroborate the allegations in the information. In addition, we were not handed over the accusation that was presented against the defendants on July 7 in the United States – says our interlocutor, adding that the developers were deprived of computers and computer equipment during the arrest.

Seized computers

– In this case, the necessary presumption for extradition has not been met, and that is that the act was committed outside the borders of Serbia. In the case of the defendants here, the suspicious act, if committed, could only have been committed in Serbia because, as described, it was committed via computer, and these funds were confiscated from them during arrest in Serbia. Which means that if they were dealing with some kind of crime through electronic communication, they did it here in Serbia. Their computers were confiscated, and we have no information as to whether they were sent for expert examination and what is happening with them – says our interlocutor.

As “Blic” wrote, the US investigating bodies submitted a request to the Serbian judiciary for the extradition of 11 Nis programmers, suspected of defrauding US citizens out of $ 70 million through bogus internet platforms. They are suspected of conspiracy to commit crimes, fraud and money laundering, for which, under US law, they face up to 20 years in prison.

No judicial institution in Serbia was able to speak about the procedure initiated by the US authorities, because each of them, from the Ministry of Justice, through the Prosecutor’s Office to the Police, responded to the request. It is especially intriguing that no Serbian judicial body was involved in the investigation, but only the FBI, and the details of their investigation were revealed only after receiving the extradition request.

Fake platforms

It is unofficially known that developers, who are between 25 and 35 years old, are suspected of creating investment platforms for so-called binary options over the Internet. Then they found foreign investors, created false business transactions, false receipts for withdrawals and money transfers. Supposedly then they closed the fake platforms and after a while they opened new ones with the same working method already elaborated. They are suspected of participating in these activities from 2011 to June 2020.

As confirmed to “Blic” in the Belgrade High Court, seven of the detainees have only Serbian citizenship, while the others also have passports from other countries.

A pregnant woman from the Philippines is also detained.

Suspected of procedural incompetence?

Nislija NM, one of 11 Nis programmers, is procedurally incompetent due to his disturbed mental state, claims his defense attorney Dragoš Cukavac by “Blic”.

He explains that his client has mental problems dating from the period before his arrest and that he tried to commit suicide before, for which he was treated at the Gornja Toponica Special Psychiatric Hospital near Nis. Cukavac announced that it would seek expert opinion to determine whether NM can follow through on the process.

– He’s not capable, he’s sick. He was in Toponica, he tried to commit suicide, he has everything in the documentation and in my opinion he is not capable of litigating. There is even the fear of trying to commit suicide again – says Cukavac.

Your detention has been extended

As announced by the Belgrade High Court, after hearing from the suspects, the case will be brought before the criminal court out of trial to determine compliance with the preconditions for extradition in accordance with the International Legal Assistance Law. in Criminal Matters. Likewise, the custody of the accused was extended in order to carry out the extradition process of the person whose extradition is requested.

– The detention may not last longer than the execution of the extradition decision, and no more than one year from the day of the arrest of the person whose extradition is requested, as of July 24, 2020, when the persons are in custody assigned to them upon request. temporary detention before submitting an extradition request. After the expiration of the decision to order the arrest, the court, ex officio, will examine ex officio whether there are reasons for the extension or termination of the detention, as indicated in the court announcement.