First Bank - First Family

Published: January 1, 2012

Banner: OCCRP

The project is a joint effort of the OCCRP and BBC’s Newsnight. Over the next two weeks we will publish more than a dozen stories on this topic.

OCCRP first looked into First Bank in 2009 for a story with ICIJ. From that point, we continued to collect documents and talk to people. Many people wanted to talk over the years but couldn’t. OCCRP was able to collect enough documents to tell the real story. We felt compelled to provide greater transparency for reasons explained here. We will publish just those pertinent parts of the documents to mitigate harm. When the stories have been published, a full version of the documents will be released with the names of non-involved persons and businesses redacted.

Please comment at our Facebook page. You can reach us at [email protected].

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Stories

Investigation

First Bank - First Family

First Bank had all the advantages. It was controlled by the Prime Ministers family. It got huge deposits including...

Investigation

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...

Investigation

The Banking Clan

Former Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic hasn't been truthful about where his consulting firm Global Montenegro got its startup...

Investigation

Best Man, Best Loan Terms

Vuk Rajkovic was one of the people in charge of overseeing First Bank’s operations and ensuring it was compliant with...

Investigation

Banking above the Law

An analysis of Central Bank reports shows that First Bank systematically broke a number of major laws and regulations...

Investigation

Saving the Bank at Any Cost

Despite the advice of the World Bank, the government of Montenegro refused to seize the bank controlled by the family of...

Investigation

Zavala: Cape Corruption

First Bank loan funds were used in illegal construction on Cape Zavala and a waterpark that never happened. Both projects...

Investigation

OCCRP Reacts To Government Media

Recently, a Montenegrin government daily started a series of stories about the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting...

Investigation

About

The project is a joint effort of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project and BBC’s Newsnight.

Investigation

Documents

Documents relating to the First Bank First Family project.

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Reactions

Investigation

Government and Central Bank React

Three days after the publication of reports that Montenegro’s First Bank violated banking laws were first published on...

OCCRP partnered with the BBC Newsnight program. There story can be seen here. A BBC television piece will be available on BBC World and Newnight tonight. Turn into local listing.

The BBC and OCCRP cooperated on this 10 minute documentary aired on BBC Newsnight and World News.