A company employee embezzles a 10,000 euro bribe intended for a SRS official

The investigation revealed that the employee of the company intended to hand over the received 10,000 euro bribe to an intermediary who is probably known to officials of the State Revenue Service, but as a result he appropriated the bribe himself. On the other hand, the commercial director of the company, who gave the bribe to the employee of the company, reported this fact to KNAB and provided the necessary information for the investigation. KNAB’s investigation did not establish the involvement of State Revenue Service officials in this criminal offense.

KNAB started criminal proceedings on August 17, 2023, and as a result of the pre-trial investigation, initiated criminal prosecution against company employees for embezzlement of a bribe. Liability for such a criminal offense is provided for in the first part of Article 321 of the Criminal Law.

KNAB explains that the legislator has determined that a person can be released from criminal liability if, after giving a bribe, he voluntarily notified the investigative body about the incident and actively contributed to the detection and investigation of the criminal offense. Thus, in relation to the commercial director of the company, the KNAB made a decision to terminate the criminal proceedings in part, because the person voluntarily reported the illegality and cooperated with the KNAB.

On March 26, KNAB, by sending the materials of the criminal case Criminal Offenses in the Service of State Institutions to the Prosecutor’s Office, concluded the relevant pre-trial investigation. Currently, the prosecutor’s office, as the leader of the process, must decide on the further course of the criminal case.

KNAB draws attention to the fact that the persons involved in criminal proceedings have the right to defense and reminds that the presumption of innocence is applied at all stages of the criminal proceedings – starting from the moment when a person is suspected or accused, until the moment when their guilt in committing a criminal offense is established in accordance with the procedures prescribed by law .