Thread by @OCCRP

NEW: Belgrade is littered with illegal buildings erected without permission. Many are unsafe and violate building codes.

But sources say it’s easy to get them “legalized" post facto by paying bribes to a Serbian government body. #PandoraPapers 🇷🇸 1/
occrp.org/en/the-pandora…

The "Secretariat for the Legalization of Buildings" was supposed to help Serbs who illegally built homes in the chaotic 1990s and 2000s.

Instead, it allegedly allowed illegal construction to flourish by opening a way to build first, get permission later — for a fee. 2/

In May, OCCRP member center @KRIKrs reported how the Secretariat was allowing shoddy builders to pay to “legalize” their so-called “wild buildings.”

Several construction industry insiders accused Nemanja Stajić, who heads the agency, of presiding over this corrupt system. 3/

Now, in the aftermath of the @krik story, Serbian prosecutors are investigating Stajić for alleged abuse of office. He appeared at the Palace of Justice in Belgrade today for questioning. 4/

Alleged corruption at the Secretariat has taken its toll not only on the construction industry, but on Belgrade itself.

News of building collapses and construction accidents are commonplace in the Serbian capital. 5/

City residents complain about developers destroying neighborhoods with unregulated and seemingly haphazard construction.

“Belgrade has been disfigured,” said one expert. 6/

Reporters began digging into this story after uncovering #PandoraPapers documents from @ICIJorg showing that Stajić’s brother was also involved in the Serbian construction industry — through offshore companies registered in the British Virgin Islands. 7/