Arrested Businessman Declares Innocence
Serbian businessman and fugitive Zoran Ćopić sat in a coffee shop in the Bosnian town of Banja Luka last week and told reporters for the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) that he fled his adopted homeland of Serbia because he was falsely accused and didn’t want to rot in prison.
Ćopić Arrest Hurts Local Farmers
A month after police closed the Bijeljina Sugar Factory they said was bought with laundered drug money, farmers and villagers who had gambled their future on the plant face catastrophic loss of a season of crops. And the local region is threatened with the loss of an important buyer and employer.
An indictment filed by the Republika Srpska (RS) Special Prosecutor's Office against Zoran Ćopić and two directors of his companies sheds new light into the ring that allegedly laundered money for a Montenegrin/Serbian drug cartel. Included in the details are Miloš Hamović, the son of the wealthy Serbian energy trader Vuk Hamović, and the company of fugitive businessman Stanko Subotić.
