The property reportedly includes a 170 m2 apartment on Knez Mihailova Street in downtown Belgrade worth an estimated €500,000, an apartment on Knez Milosa Street also in Belgrade, and houses in Subotic’s hometown of Ub. Officials from the Ministry of Justice will conduct an investigation to compile an inventory of assets. Based on their findings, a court ruling will be made on a seizure and its duraton.
Subotic’s assets were frozen in June 2007 after allegations that he had defrauded the Serbian state of €80 million in taxes through the illegal tobacco trade. The recent move was ordered under the recent Law on Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime, enacted late last year.
Source: Foreign Accounts Eyed
Press quoted a source from the Serbian judiciary as saying the Special Prosecutor’s Office will seek cooperation with international authorities to investigate Subotic’s foreign assets and business dealings, as well as those of his business associates, and to block Subotic’s foreign accounts. The source also told Press that investigators have identified properties belonging to Subotic that are worth an estimated €500 million in Montenegro, Cyprus, Greece, Russia and Switzerland.
A spokeswoman for the Special Prosecutor’s Office, Maja Kovacevic-Tomic, would neither confirm nor deny the reports regarding the temporary seizure of Subotic’s property. Subotic’s defense attorney, Vladimir Beljanski, told Press that his client’s assets had been frozen for the duration of court proceedings, but would not comment on the state’s request for their seizure.
Subotic’s companies include the Denmark-based “Emerging Markets Investment” (EMI) and the Serbian firm “D Trade.” He is co-owner and founder of the “Futura Plus” newsstand chain, the Serbian meat processing factory Famis LLC and companies in Greece and Russia selling beverages and sports equipment. He also owns the Villa Montenegro hotel in Sveti Stefan, Montenegro, and a vineyard in France.
Subotic was arrested in Moscow in April last year based on an Interpol warrant issued in June 2007 by Serbian police. Despite an extradition request from Serbian authorities, however, Subotic was released from custody two months later.
According to Serbian police, Subotic currently lives in Russia.
--Michael Mehen
