The Basic Court in Prizren has ordered four suspects for abuses at the Kosovo Insurance Bureau (KIB) to be remanded in custody for one month, while 35 other suspects have been ordered to appear at the police station.

In the announcement, the Court said that SM, VB are suspected of co-perpetrating the criminal offenses: abuse of trust and abuse of economic authorizations. This concerns the former executive director of BKS, Sami Mazreku, and the former director of finance of BKS, Valon Berisha, against whom investigations began in March last year, according to the Basic Prosecution Office of Prizren.

Berisha is also suspected of the criminal offense of forgery of documents. FS, meanwhile, according to the Court, is suspected of forgery of documents and breach of trust, an offense for which Y.Ç. Meanwhile, the other 35 defendants are suspected of the criminal offenses of breach of trust, aiding and abetting, the Court in Prizren said.

"For 35 defendants, the measure of reporting to the police station has been imposed, as well as the measure of prohibition to approach a certain place or person, for a period of one month, which measure may last until 08.02.2026, so that the defendants are obliged to report once a week to the relevant police station where they reside, and the defendants are prohibited from approaching the injured party BKS, as well as the other defendants," the Court said.

If they do not comply with these measures, they will be taken into custody, the announcement said. The court said the detention of the four defendants was necessary, in order to “prevent escape”, hinder the development of investigations or influence witnesses, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports. On January 8, the Basic Prosecution Office in Prizren carried out an action in several regions following suspicions of abuses at the BKS. The Chief Prosecutor in Prizren, Petrit Kryeziu, said that the defendants are suspected of having caused damage to the bureau worth over 1 million euros. Mazreku and Berisha – who were left in custody – are suspected of having misused the BKS’s authorizations by enabling various persons, and through them, to carry out illegal transactions.

Chief Prosecutor Kryeziu stated that Mazreku and Berisha “have achieved great benefits for themselves and have caused damage to the BKS”. During the action, authorities seized 23.700 euros, gold, accessories, various watches and electronic devices during the raids, Kryeziu announced. The Chief Prosecutor also said that in close cooperation with financial intelligence, 1.3 million euros have been frozen. On the day the action was carried out, the BKS said that it was the injured party and that the case was initiated by it as a result of “the findings identified in the Internal Audit report”.

The Kosovo Insurance Bureau is a non-profit organization responsible for administering compulsory motor vehicle insurance in Kosovo, and is supervised by the Central Bank of Kosovo. It was established on August 7, 2011, based on the Law on Compulsory Motor Third Party Liability Insurance./rel