Controversial Belgrade lawyer Igor Isailović, a friend and associate of Minister Siniša Mali and PM Ana Brnabić, was the holder of a secret account through an offshore company, headquartered in the British Virgin Islands, reveals KRIK, as stated in the Pandora Papers.
The New Moments Consulting Company was founded on 31 July 2015 and Isailović was its owner and director.
Emails and documents obtained by KRIK show that Isailović was in a hurry to create a company as soon as possible so that he could secretly open a bank account on the basis of it. However, on 15 July 2016, only a year after its inception, the company was closed.
Economist and deputy chairman of the opposition Social Democratic Party, Goran Radosavljević, says that the company and the account were probably opened so that Isailović could pay out commission via the account. “Accounts and companies are opened offshore, among other things, to carry out clandestine business deals or collect a commission. The relatively quick closure of such a company indicates the possibility that it was opened only for the purpose of transfer of money, most likely with the aim of hiding the transaction,” says Radosaljević.
Isailović worked closely for many years with Siniša Mali. To set up his offshore company New Moments Consulting, he turned to the agency Trident Trust, the same one Mali used a few years earlier to set up companies via which he bought apartments in Bulgaria.
In the same month that he founded this offshore company, in July 2015, Isailović founded another company in Serbia called Energy & Innovation together with Prime Minister Brnabić. It is not clear what this company does, although it is registered to perform engineering activities.
Speaking previously to KRIK about her relationship with Isailović, Brnabić said she met him when she was working with her law firm on a potential investment in Serbia in the energy sector, and added that “over time they became friends”. The same lawyer also represents her in court.
(Nova Ekonomija, 11.10.2021)
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