Bar Prosecutor’s Office opens case on ‘DistributeX’ platform: suspicions of financial and crypto fraud

The Basic State Prosecutor’s Office in Bar has opened a case following reports of suspected financial and crypto fraud through the “DistributeX” platform. The case, officially confirmed to “Vijesti” by this prosecutor’s office, includes Smiljana Obradović and several as-yet-unidentified persons linked to the founding, management, and operation of the platform.

Of all the reports submitted regarding the operation of the “DistributeX” platform, only the Bar prosecutor’s office confirmed it has opened a case. The Podgorica prosecutor’s office told “Vijesti” it is aware of the reports and is in communication with the police on measures provided by law. The Herceg Novi prosecutor’s office said earlier that in August it learned of such a report but that there is nothing new.

At the end of August, police announced that in several Montenegrin cities several criminal reports had been filed against the persons behind the “DistributeX” platform and similar platforms, on suspicion of financial fraud. In the reports, citizens say they were deceived by the platform’s representatives, as they were not paid the money they were allegedly promised through a voluntary payment system of certain sums and the performance of tasks — including a certain number of “clicks” suspected of promoting the platform and recruiting other persons to unlock the next level with larger sums and harder tasks.

The platform and the WhatsApp groups through which communication took place were shut down at the end of August, and many users were left without the promised payments and without their invested money. Interlocutors of the editorial office who were themselves part of the scheme said earlier that through it over 3,000 Montenegrin citizens were harmed, and estimate that millions in sums were collected through crypto payments and cash “hand-to-hand” deliveries at local offices. Offices had been opened in Podgorica, in the part of the city across the Morača, while according to “Vijesti” the platform also had offices in Bar, Nikšić, Danilovgrad, and Andrijevica.

Smiljana Obradović, included in the report and in the case opened in Bar, was according to editorial information responsible for the Andrijevica office. She did not answer “Vijesti”‘s questions. According to public data from the NGO registry, Obradović is one of the founders of the NGO “DistribucijaX”, through which the disputed platform’s activities were allegedly carried out. Other founders of this NGO are Goran Trifunović and Marko Gjokvuqiq from Bar. Trifunović earlier told “Vijesti” that he too was deceived; Gjokvuqiq did not answer questions.

The Ministry of Regional Development-Investment and Cooperation with NGOs approved in June the registration of the NGO “Distribucija Iks”, with activity “social and health protection” and a broader description “organizing humanitarian actions and distributing collected aid to socially vulnerable persons”. Citizens who say they were deceived through the scheme told “Vijesti” earlier that they were misled precisely because organizers showed them the decision on registration in the NGO Registry as “proof of legality and work permit”, issued by the department of Ernada Suljević. The Ministry told “Vijesti” in April that it would not verify whether the NGO could be involved in a network with signs of crypto fraud, and has since not answered whether it will review the registration or initiate the procedure for deletion from the records.

Source: Vijesti