Indictment issued over irregularities in takeover of gunpowder factory in Bosnia

The Special Department for Combating Corruption and Organised Crime within the Prosecutor’s Office of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (POSKOK) issued the indictment.

According to POSKOK, the indictment also covers Behrija HuseinbegoviC, Josip Raic and Nikola Cato.

All were arrested in October 2025 as part of the investigation, and the prosecution has requested an extension of detention for Zubak, Huseinbegovic and Raic.

Tomislav Zubak is described by the media as a responsible person within the WDG Vitez company, while Huseinbegovic is the bankruptcy administrator of Vitezit, Raic is the director of the company, and Cato his associate.

Huseinbegovic is charged with abuse of office and money laundering. Zubak and Raić face charges of abuse of office, illegal possession of weapons or explosive materials, and money laundering, while Čato is charged with abuse of office and obstructing an official in the performance of duties.

The indictment also includes WDG d.o.o. Vitez.

The former giant of the military industry in the former Yugoslavia, Vitezit, was acquired in 2021 by Winsley Defence Group, owned by Zvonko Zubak, for €5.5 million.

The purchase included former facilities for the production of nitroglycerin and plastic explosives, a testing ground, machinery and production plants, warehouses and other premises, parts of Vitezit that were at the time assessed as promising.

The indictment is based on the prosecution’s claim that Behrija Huseinbegovic enabled WDG Promet d.o.o. Zagreb to unlawfully purchase Vitezit in bankruptcy without meeting the legal requirements or obtaining the necessary approvals from competent institutions.

It is alleged that WDG Promet d.o.o. Zagreb, lacking other funds to purchase the assets of Vitezit in bankruptcy, used 10.8 million Bosnian marks (€5.5 million) that had previously been paid to it for the procurement of weapons and ammunition for Ukraine.

According to the indictment, the buyer was, without legal grounds, allowed to take over assets including facilities and plants for the production of weapons and military equipment, which should not have been subject to disposal. These assets were subsequently managed by WDG d.o.o. Vitez.

The suspects are accused of organising the dismantling and destruction of facilities, plants, infrastructure and equipment intended for the production of weapons and military equipment, and of selling those assets as scrap, thereby obtaining unlawful financial gain for WDG d.o.o. Vitez and causing damage to Vitezit in bankruptcy.

According to POSKOK, the money obtained from the sale of the assets was channelled into the legal financial flows of WDG d.o.o. Vitez.

The indictment proposes the examination of 71 witnesses, three expert witnesses and around one thousand items of material evidence during the main trial.