Bosnian police on Wednesday arrested the country’s intelligence chief on charges of money laundering and abuse of office after forging university diplomas.
According to Reuters, Osman Mehmedagic, head of the Intelligence Security Agency (OSA), was arrested at the request of state prosecutors and police were conducting activities accordingly, Sarajevo police spokesman Mirza Hadziabdic said.
The prosecutor’s office said in a statement that Mehmedagic was investigating criminal acts of abuse of office or authority, forgery of documents and money laundering. He said more information would be available later Wednesday.
Corruption is rampant in Bosnia, ethnically divided following the bloody break-up of Yugoslavia in the 1990s Balkan wars, infiltrating all walks of life, including the judiciary, education and health.
Last month, police arrested the director of the American University in Sarajevo and Tuzla and two accomplices for allegedly illegally issuing a diploma to Mehmedagic.
In October, Mehmedagic and an accomplice were charged with abuse of office for allegedly using agency resources to spy on a man who filed a criminal complaint against him but the court acquitted them of the charges.
