The Montenegrin Prosecutor’s Office for years, has information and evidence about the offshore business of domestic public officials and related tycoons and criminals, and in this sense does not have to wait for “Panama papers” in order to finally do something about that.
MANS continuously for years has been submitting data and criminal charges in which in detail describes how the offshore companies are used for the investments in Montenegro, and also for money laundering through domestic banks. Unfortunately, until today none of these cases were adequately prosecuted, and some applications without proper justification and rejected.
One of the off shore companies on which the prosecution has information is a company “Lafino Trade”, registered in Delaware by brothers Darko and Dusko Saric. This company, together with the company Camarilla Corporation from Seychelles, which is also controlled by Saric brothers, was one of the most important clients of the First Bank of Montenegro, owned by the Prime minister’s brother Aco Djukanovic. In mid-2008 Lafino Trade deposited in First Bank 6 million euros, at the time when Djukanovic’s bank was in crisis and could not execute client orders. In addition to Lafina Trade, the depositor at the bank was and Cyprus based company “Caldero Tradining Limited” owned by a close friend of Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic, Zoran Becirovic.
Off shore company Lafina trade is mentioned in several investigations for money laundering in Serbia, but when it comes to businesses with the First Bank of Montenegro the prosecution still has not found it necessary to seriously deal with the case.
This is not the only offshore company that is associated with Saric for which the prosecution has evidence. Montenegrin company “Nova Star CG” was established by the offshore company Nova Star LLC which is owned by another offshore company Nikomat LLC, registered in Delaware. As the owner Nikomat LLC appears Danijela Saric, sister of Darko and Dusko Saric and Nebojsa Jestrovic who was accused in Serbiafor laundering money from cocaine.
Company formed this way was part of an organized criminal scheme that is intended to fraudulently reach valuable land of the soccer club “Mogren” on the coast in Budva. What is particularly interesting and about what the prosecution for several years has full information is the fact that as the head of the company “Nova Star CG”, founded by Saric, continue to be Blagota Radulovic, Director General for IPARD payments at the Ministry of Agriculture, and longtime first assistant of actual Minister of Agriculture Petar Ivanovic.
When it comes to the Minister Ivanovic, his name is also associated with the offshore companies operating in Montenegro. At the end of 2010, the Panamanian lawyer’s office “Ballard & Ballard”, at the home address of the Minister Ivanovic in Podgorica, sent a power of attorney by which its clients authorize Podgorica based lawyer Zorica Djukanović to represent Panamanian company “Adriatic Overseas Holding”. This company at the same year took over the share of Saric’s company in mentioned business with the land of the soccer club Mogren from Budva.
In addition, the Panamanian company took over and the company Sun Investment, which is associated with another friend of Prime Minister Djukanovic, Stanko Subotic. This company at the First Bank had several loans totaling over 20 million euros of which the majority of the amount of 15 million euros have been recovered from deposit, and the money was deposited at the First Bank through his lawyer escaped Prime Minister of Thailand, and Thaksin Shinawatra Montenegrin citizen. The Montenegrin Prosecutor’s Office never checked the origin of this money, nor have dealt with transactions within the First Bank.
On the other hand, Minister Ivanovic never publicly spoke about the links that he has with the drug clan of Saric and mentioned the Panamanian company, but according to the documents available to MANS, the prosecution has never taken any measures against Ivanovic.
The Prosecutor’s Office also has information on how it was traded with military complex “Skocidjevojka” near Budva, and detailed information of offshore company “Caldero Trading Limited” of brothers Becirovic, Seychelles based company “Blaze Corporation”, and the company “Montenegro Real Estate Investment Company” from the British Virgin Islands, which was in Montenegro represented by the Prime Minister’s sister, Ana Djukanovic. These companies through domestic commercial banks by re-soling some land several times, through the accounts “squeezed” tens of millions of euros. From the Prosecutor’s Office and the Agency for Prevention of Money Laundering there is no information whether they ever dealt with this case.
The Montenegrin Prosecutor’s Office has information on how Milos Marovic, the son of a high official of DPS Svetozar Marovic, together with the now deceased Dragan Becirovic established Cyprus based company “Nummerico Trade”, for whose work on the construction of a water park the Municipality of Budva has given millions in warranties. MANS reported that case in 2011 but to date, from the prosecution we still have no information whether even the investigation was undertaken.
These are just some of the cases about which the Montenegrin prosecution has extensive documentation but still are waiting for the prosecution, and we wish that the key obstacle is not the fact that criminals and their companies are connected with the family and close associates of the Prime Minister Djukanovic.
Instead of promises that one day they will deal with “Panamanian papers” when they see the light of day, MANS invites the prosecution to immediately open listed cases because it does not have to wait on that documentation. It is for many years at the Prosecutor’s Office, waiting to be processed.
Previous activities of the prosecution might have given the right to optimistic to think that “justice has finally started”, but we believe that the Montenegrin public has waited long enough senior officials and related criminals to be prosecuted. Especially if we consider a large number of evidence which are in the Prosecutor’s Office, waiting for competent prosecutors to gather enough courage and political will and initiate their final processing.
MANS, in this regard, as the submitter of numerous charges, is still ready to help that the key criminals, whether they are in the Government or the underworld, are prosecuted as soon as possible, in order for the prosecution to show that is an independent in the concrete results, or the prosecution of Prime Minister and his immediate family and criminal environment is still taboo topic in Montenegro.
MANS
