Hours after Serbian investigative outlet KRIK revealed that the brother of the country’s Finance Minister was using a car owned by two businessmen who regularly receive lucrative government contracts, a pro-regime tabloid accused a KRIK reporter of harassing the brother’s girlfriend and her baby.

The Appellate Court in Belgrade upheld a verdict ordering former mayor and current Minister of Finance Sinisa Mali to return illegally acquired land back to the government, KRIK reported Thursday. 

Belgrade Mayor Sinisa Mali is living a life of luxury, flying business class and staying in sumptuous hotels. How he can afford it on his official salary is anyone’s guess.

Sinisa Mali, the current (and likely future) mayor of Belgrade, appears to have had a lucrative time in office. Photo by OCCRP. Some rights reserved.

Serbia’s leading politicians are no strangers to being probed for their illicit wealth and shady financial dealings. Yet despite investigation after investigation by journalists and anti-corruption watchdogs (accompanied by page after page of evidence), the country’s prosecutors have shown a remarkable disinterest in taking action.

Man passes by Serbia’s high court in Belgrade, Serbia November 14, 2017. Photo (c): Reuters / Djordje Kojadinovic.

Most of us may need one or two bank accounts. But Sinisa Mali, the mayor of Belgrade, appears to have had control over 45, according to a report obtained by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and Serbian investigative journalism outlet KRIK.

Sinisa Mali, the current (and likely future) mayor of Belgrade, appears to have had a lucrative time in office. Photo by OCCRP. Some rights reserved.

By Bojana Pavlović, Nataša Marković

A Serbian court ruled that ten hectares of land illegally acquired by Belgrade’s mayor and his father 12 years ago must be returned to the state, KRIK reported Monday.

The Serbian government has asked the Belgrade airport to forgive local carrier Air Serbia a debt of more than US$ 22 million, according to the Serbian Crime and Corruption Reporting Netork (KRIK). The debt constitutes all payments owed by the carrier to the airport for a one year period meaning the airline essentially used the airport for free for one year.

Siniša Mali, the powerful mayor of the Serbian capital of Belgrade and a close associate and former advisor of current Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić, prides himself on being a modern, progressive leader.

The American-educated Mali builds parks and casts himself as a corruption free family man and a shrewd businessman who advised the government on economic issues and is corruption free.

Sinisa Mali, as the mayor of Belgrade, and a man close to Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, prides himself on being a modern, progressive leader. The American-educated Mali casts himself as a corruption-free family man and a shrewd businessman who advised the government on economic issues. But a look into his business deals shows a very different story. Instead, he helped destroy a once proud Serbian business and left workers poor and a solid company capable of earning foreign trade destitute and in debt. 

A company controlled by Mayor of Belgrade Sinisa Mali and his family obtained more than 10 hectares of agricultural land worth anywhere from €123,000 to € 250,000 (US$140,000 to US$290,000) for free from a privatized state company.

The mayor of Belgrade has refused to comment on reports that he is the director oftwo offshore companies that own 19 apartments in Bulgaria worth an estimated total of US$ 6.1 million.

Sinisa Mali, the powerful mayor of the Serbian capital of Belgrade and a close associate of Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, is the director of two offshore companies that own 19 resort apartments worth about US$ 6.1 million on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, reporters for the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and KRIK have learned.