Swiss authorities confirmed to Montenegro’s Prosecution Office that the wife of former President Svetozar Marovic had millions in an HSBC account in Switzerland at the time when he denied the family even had an account and offered the money alleged to be on it to anyone who proves it exists.
The former president of the now-defunct State Union of Serbia and Montenegro, Svetozar Marovic, has been convicted of the full battery of corruption charges leveled against him after the country’s High Court accepted his second plea bargain, the court announced Tuesday.
Svetozar Marovic, a close associate of Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic and a high-ranking official of the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), has quit politics after signing an agreement with the Special Prosecutor and admitting several crimes, including heading a criminal organization that embezzled tens of millions of Euros from the state budget.
Svetozar Marovic, who served as president of the joint state of Serbia and Montenegro until the two countries split, was released from custody Tuesday after he signed a plea bargain with prosecutors who accused him of involvement in a number of corruption cases that defrauded the local budget of Budva of millions of dollars in recent years.
Montenegrin authorities today arrested the former president of Serbia and Montenegro, who they suspect was involved in large-scale corruption cases in his hometown of Budva.
This morning saw a fresh round of legal action in Montenegro’s so-called “Land Exchange” affair as former director of the coastal city Budva’s Development Agency, Stevica Dragovic, was arrested on suspicion of misusing his position.
Authorities in Montenegro have arrested 13 people, including the mayor of the coastal city of Budva, several Budva municipality officials, the director of a company, and an advisor to Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic, on suspicion of abuse of office.
OCCRP partner MANS has handed documents to Montenegro’s chief prosecutor alleging that the wife of the former president of Serbia and Montenegro stashed millions of dollars in a secret Swiss HSBC bank account.
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