First Bank: Let’s Make a Deal
Some of the loans given by First Bank were not issued according to proper banking practice, according to the Central Bank examiners. A significant number of loans, maybe even two thirds, were approved to family members, shareholders, business partners, and other parties connected to the bank, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The Banking Clan
Former Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic hasn’t been truthful about where his consulting firm Global Montenegro got its startup loan. It came from his family controlled First Bank, the same bank whose mismanagement led to a taxpayer bailout. Other family members also got great deals from the bank.
First Bank Helped Micunovic Family
First Bank financed a huge €4.6 million line of credit in 2008 for Svetlana Micunovic, wife of controversial casino owner Branislav Micunovic, without checking her finances, without collateral and without paperwork. They also gave Micunovic’s company Dzek Pot, which had posted significant losses for two years, a €200,000 loan guarantee without conducting any financial analysis or guaranteeing the credit.
Paying for Madonna, Cheating Montenegrins
Montenegrin taxpayers wound up footing the €4.3 million bill for Madonna’s Balkan debut in 2008. And the real company behind the event was First Bank, according to documents obtained by OCCRP. The concert not only broke promises that no public money would be used, it also depleted First Bank’s resources at a time it was already unable to honor requests for money from its own depositors.
Drug Smuggling Trial: Oruqi to Plead Guilty
Luan Oruqi is going to admit the offence he was charged said today his attorney Mirza Kovač at the beginning of a trial before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).
SIPA Warehouse Worker Sentenced
The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has sentenced today Srđan Andrić and Goran Gotovac from Sarajevo to a year in prison on charges of embezzlement and forging of official documents.
Kelmendi Fined for Illegal Construction in Ulcinj
Naser Kelmendi, a Kosovo businessman with Sarajevo address, paid yesterday a €10,000 fine avoiding court proceedings for illegal construction of his Casa Grande Hotel in Ulcinj.
Cigarette Trader Charged with 3.3 Million KM Tax Evasion
The Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina filed an indictment for organized crime, tax evasion and money laundering against Zenica-based Čago Komerc and Fahrudin Čago, Smail Mujčinović, the company’s owner and director respectively.
Čović Acquitted of Abuse of Office Charges
Today, a Panel of Judges of the Cantonal Court in Sarajevo acquitted Dragan Čović, the president of the Croatian Democratic Union of abuse of office charges in the case of the Lijanovićs.