After two and a half years of preliminary enquiries, Special State Prosecutor, Milivoje Katnić personally rejected the criminal charges filed by MANS against the President of Montenegro, Milo Đukanović, the President of Atlas Group, Duško Knežević, Dušan Ban and Željko Mihailović from Podgorica, and former Director of the Department for Prevention of Money Laundering, Predrag Mitrović, due to a well-founded suspicion that they had committed the criminal offense of money laundering in an organized manner.
In a brief explanation submitted to MANS, Katnić states that after the investigation, “there is no reasonable suspicion that the reported perpetrators committed the criminal offense, or any other criminal offense for which the prosecution is undertaken ex officio”. In the decision that he personally signed, Katnić states that international legal assistance from the competent authorities of Switzerland was used during the investigation. However, after reviewing the documentation, he did not find a basis for continuing the procedure against the defendants.
Milo Đukanović
On July 11, 2007, Đukanović, as the owner of Capital Invest Podgorica, signed a loan agreement with Piraeus Bank SA London for 1.5 million euros, for which the bank requested an additional guarantee in the form of cash collateral. Đukanović provided the collateral the same day in agreement with Duško Knežević, through his company Comsel Limited from Cyprus.
The amount of 1.5 million euros that served as a collateral to Đukanović was transferred to the account of the company Comsel Limited by Đukanović’s “two friends” Dušan Ban and Željko Mihailović.
After receiving the loan from Piraeus Bank, on August 3, 2007, through his company Capital Invest, Đukanović bought the shares of Prva banka, which is majority owned by his brother, Aco Đukanović. The shares were purchased under favourable terms, for a price of 127 euros per share.
Đukanović continuously deceived the public about how his company actually took out the London loan. Thus, during the Prime Minister’s Hour and Parliamentary Questions on November 21, 2013, in his capacity as Prime Minister in the Parliament of Montenegro, Đukanović stated that there was no deposit for obtaining a loan from Piraeus Bank, and that he took out the loan based on his reputation.
On the other hand, Special State Prosecutor, Milivoje Katnić, did not find it suspicious that the reported persons Ban and Mihailović concluded a fictitious – simulated legal deal, i.e. investment agreement, with Knežević’s Cypriot company, and the money was used for other purposes – as a guarantee in the form of cash collateral for loan to Đukanović.
In its report submitted to Katnić, MANS also drew attention to the fact that the reported Ban and Mihailović ran the company “Mia” from Ub, which is owned by Stanko Subotić, also a friend of Đukanović, and through whom, it is suspected, the so-called cigarette transit took place. “Nacional” weekly from Zagreb published the testimony of one of the insiders from the cigarette business, Srećko Kestner, who publicly announced that Ban and Mihailović were Đukanović’s close friends, who collected the tax in cash, “literally in bags”, that they were taking 15% of the profit of this company, while Đukanović was taking 10 dollars per pack of cigarettes.
In addition, the fugitive businessman, Duško Knežević, also referred to Ban and Mihajlović as Đukanović’s friends “from the cigarette transit business”, and that is why they could not present themselves to Piraeus Bank as credible clients and pass the international compliance check.
MANS also pointed out to Katnić the role of Predrag Mitrović, the then director of the Department for Prevention of Money Laundering, who is also suspected of covering up the manner of obtaining money, which served as a collateral for Đukanović and his company to obtain a loan.
Namely, on August 17, 2007, the Department publicly announced that Đukanović’s shares in Prva Banka served as a collateral for obtaining a loan from Piraeus Bank, although Đukanović received the loan on the basis of a collateral issued by Duško Knežević’s company Comsel Limited.
Special State Prosecutor Katnić continues to secretly carry out procedures which, as a rule, result in the elimination of any suspicion of Đukanović, his family or the political party.
Milivoje Katnić
We suspect that this is a new attempt to “clear the biography” of President Đukanović, which began with the Telekom case, continued with dismissal of criminal charges due to guarantees for Aluminium Power Plant Podgorica (KAP), buying of votes in the elections, and the purchase of shares in Prva Banka.
The brief explanation MANS received from Katnić does not contain nearly enough information on the basis of which the legality of the Special State Prosecutor’s actions in this case can be assessed. Instead, we are left with only the option to believe Milivoje Katnić’s word that he did absolutely everything to investigate President Đukanović’s affairs.
MANS has so far repeatedly asked the Special State Prosecutor’s Office to publish the entire documentation on its actions in cases of great interest to the Montenegrin public, especially those that resulted in non-confirmation of indictments, i.e. their dismissal by the competent court. Unfortunately, we are witnesses that this is not happening, but that in cases that have been finalized, the State Prosecutor’s Office acts as a secret organization guided by a “vow of silence”, instead by the public interest and the right to know.
We do not know the exact motives of Prosecutor Katnić to continuously “protect” Đukanović and his business and political associates in this way, but the practice in which even the most basic details of key investigations are hidden from the public must become a thing of the past.
In accordance with the Criminal Procedure Code, MANS will tomorrow send a complaint to the Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office with a request to reconsider the decision to dismiss the criminal report.
MANS
