| The Balkan Godfather (part
2) |
Subotic has an official residence at Palmoticeva 82 in
Zagreb
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At this very moment, several of the
world’s great intelligence services are conducting parallel investigations
into Croatian citizen, Stanko Subotic Cane, the European king of cigarette
smuggling. According to certain estimates, Subotic is worth over 500
million DEM, making him definitely the wealthiest Croatian citizen. As
Nacional has learned, the Croatian police are also investigating Subotic,
born September 9, 1959 in Ub, Serbia. In his Croatian passport, he is
listed as having a residence in Zagreb at Palmoticeva 82. We were not able
to learn just how far that investigation has come, but in light of the
activities in the police ministry, we are not certain that there is an
overwhelming interest in Subotic there. What Nacional has uncovered is
that the domestic police have not even managed to discover just how
Subotic obtained a Croatian passport, even though Minister Lucin stated
that the passport was issued on a recommendation by General Ljubo Cesic
Rojs.
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Penic’s Approval |
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Just what the connection is between
Subotic and Rojs will probably never be uncovered. From the letter
Nacional received from Subotic’s attorney, it is clear that the passport
was approved in 1999 by the minister’s discretion. Perhaps he would know
the answer to the mystery connection between Subotic and Rojs. However,
Penic is protected by parliamentary immunity, and therefore, cannot be
interrogated. On Monday, May 21, Nacional’s reporting team visited the
address at Palmoticeva 82. However, they did not find the name Subotic on
any of the doors in that building. Obviously, this was simply a fictitious
address, or Subotic was registered as a tenant in one of the apartments.
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Incorrect Assessments
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“It will not be easy for Milo Djukanovic
in the next six months. To date, we have uncovered some 130 million DEM in
foreign bank accounts which are either directly or indirectly connected to
his name. The sources of that money are also connected to businessman
Stanko Subotic, a Croatian citizen, with a registered residence in Zagreb,
at Palmoticeva 82. There has also been confirmation of a connection
between Stanko Subotic and Zoran Djindjic, which particularly intensified
after Milosevic’s fall, when Djindjic was appointed Premier of Serbia. As
far as we know, these two have been intensively working on a project to
build a cigarette factory in Kragujevac. As a partner to Subotic, British
American Tobacco (BAT) has also made an appearance. Djindjic is supposedly
responsible for giving political support to the entire project. In the
entire story, the most surprising behavior has come from the Croatian
government, particularly from the Finance Ministry. To date, that ministry
has not asked any questions as to where, to whom and how much Subotic, as
a Croatian citizen, pays in taxes.” These were the comments made for
Nacional by a very influential foreign diplomat on Sunday May 20. That
representative of one of the world’s greatest forces confirmed that
according to their information, the article published in the last issue of
Nacional was completely in agreement with the truth, and that our only
errors were in the actual estimates of Subotic’s fortune. According to
their knowledge, Stanko Subotic Cane, the main Balkan godfather, is worth
much more than the 500 million DEM listed in the article. One high ranking
official in the Washington State Department illustrated the situation in
the following way: “We let Djukanovic make $5 million, and now he wants
hundreds of millions. Let him finance Montenegro now, instead of the
United States.”
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Connection with
Djukanovic |
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Nacional’s article aroused great anxiety
in both Stanko Subotic and Milo Djukanovic, who quickly sent letters to
Nacional’s editorial offices denying everything. Zoran Djindjic also gave
a statement to the press: he also denied any involvement in any criminal
activities, however, he admitted to being in very good relations with “the
honest businessman Subotic”. Djindjic failed to mention that he was in
such good relations with Subotic that the latter gave him his airplane to
use for visits abroad. Djukanovic also denied all claims in the article,
claiming that he is an honest man and that these attacks on his character
are based on a conspiracy against his government and the independence of
Montenegro.
Unlike Djindjic and Djukanovic, Subotic
did not deny the majority of the claims made in the article, but rather
explained them. He states that he did order a Cessna Citation X airplane,
but that he paid $18 million for it, and not $17.5. He also confirmed
Nacional’s claims that Djukanovic’s government had purchased two airplanes
worth $30 million, and that the government would return this
“interest-free loan” to Subotic. Thus, all three planes, his and the two
state airplanes, were purchased by Subotic, in cash, for a total of $45
million (90 million DEM). Very few people, other than perhaps the Prince
of Brunei or one of the ridiculously wealthy Arab princes could buy three
airplanes in this fashion.
However, this is all just
a small piece of the puzzle that Nacional is currently investigating
concerning the business dealings and connections of the wealthiest and
most mysterious Croatian citizen, Stanko Subotic Cane. Nacional has
uncovered 300 hours of telephone conversations between Djukanovic and
Subotic, confirming their tight relations. These conversations were
recorded over the last two years by a foreign intelligence service,
between Djukanovic’s number 00 381 69 011 495 and Subotic’s 00 41 79 471
8419. The intelligence service also frequently recorded Djukanovic’s wife
Lidija’s telephone, number 00 381 69 011 292. For a time, they were also
recording their satellite conversations.
Proof that
Djukanovic and Subotic do not only have a professional relationship, but
also a personal friendship, was provided by numerous witnesses who were
present at the indulgent parties at Subotic’s villa on St. Stephan island.
The size of this house, which actually looks very small from street level,
is only visible from the oceanside. At the top level of the house, which
is actually the fourth floor, there is a car lift, which lowers vehicles
to the basement garage which can house 25 automobiles. When he is not
hosting parties on St. Stephan, then the lascivious crowd moves to
Subotic’s complex in the Spanish resort town of Marbella. This complex is
comprised of one massive house and four annexes on a large plot of land.
Subotic’s neighbor in the hip area the Golden Mile is recently released
multibillionaire Mark Rich. Subotic purchased this house for $11.5
million. In the company of young women, if possible Croatian singers, they
enjoy a comfortable life there, from morning till night, with luxurious
drinks and expensive opiates. Of course, Subotic’s wife has no knowledge
of these activities, since she lives with their child in Geneva,
Switzerland at 21 Terresses de Lord Byron.
Besides
being very generous to his friend and partner Djukanovic when it came to
both parties and divvying up the “loot”, he also took great care of
preserving Djukanovic’s image. Subotic knew that Djukanovic was an admirer
of the highest quality and most expensive watches. While the ordinary
people of Montenegro were barely making ends meet, for the average salary
in Montenegro is about 200 DEM, their present has received gifts of
watches in the last two years totaling 1.5 million DEM. If one carefully
looks are photographs and TV images of the Montenegrin president, one can
see expensive watches on his wrist. For example, a Brequet Minut
Repetition (worth 360,000 DEM), Brequet Tourbillion (480,000 DEM), IWC
Grand Complication (Schaffhausen – 450,000 DEM) and Franck Muller (50,000
DEM).
The luxurious life the Montenegrin president
leads is further shown in the recent additions to his home in Podgorica,
which he expanded to a total of 400 m2. This home was furnished with only
the best, and most expensive in Italian furniture. The furniture bill
surpassed 1.5 million DEM. Even more painful to see is the total of
350,000 DEM for bulletproof glass installed in the apartment. The Italian
financial police claim that this bill was paid for by Subotic’s company
‘Codex Limited’, account number 0122337 in the Bank in Liechtenstein AG,
Herrengasse 12 in Vaduz.
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Bank in Limasol |
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Many of Djukanovic’s expenses were paid
from that account, belonging to Subotic, including two bulletproof
vehicles – and Audi S8, and a Mercedes S Class (Genscher), each worth
600,000 DEM. Codex, according to the joint findings by both Swiss and
Italian investigators, is a filter for money laundering and corrupting
those politicians in the former Yugoslavia which are necessary for
Subotic’s business dealings.
In addition to the
company Codex, registered in Vaduz, Subotic and Djukanovic use two
additional companies for their businesses. Both are located on Cypress,
the banking and business oasis for all the “businessmen” from Yugoslavia.
The majority of the cigarette business went through the company ‘Dulwich
Enterprise Limited’. That company is registered at the address Konstatinos
Paparegoupolu 3 in the business building Friemis House, office number 202.
Their other joint company, ‘Wellesley Limited’ is located at the same
address, and in the same office as Dulwich. Both companies use bank
accounts at the Bank of Cypress. The account number for Dulwich is
0385-41-058637-06, and for Wellesley 0385-41-058599-06. The bank is
located in the Cypress city of Limasol in the Offshore Business Center. In
addition to this bank, Subotic also uses the Cypress Arab Bank, also
located in Limasol. All of Subotic’s and Djukanovic’s business dealings on
Cypress are handled by Nikola Milosevic (31, also a Croatian citizen), who
is Subotic’s cousin. The main “middleman” for all of Subotic’s and
Djukanovic’s banking transactions lives in London, and his name is Nebojsa
Katic. Katic is a former member of the Serbian intelligence community ,
which suggests that Subotic took an entire network of colleagues from
around the world from the service which in fact created him. He can thank
his consigliero, Jovica Stanisic, for that. Stanisic was the untouchable
head of the Serbian national security agency during Milosevic’s period of
attempting to conquer Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo.
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Legendary Fees |
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In the denial letter which Subotic sent
to Nacional via his attorney, he claims that the company ‘Mia’ (named
after his daughter) is not under the ownership of Djukanovic’s friends,
Dusko Ban and Zeljko Mihaljovic. Perhaps they are not the owners, but it
certainly is odd that these two men, as regular employees in Mia, have
amassed great fortune – each holds 23 million DEM in accounts at City Bank
in Zurich and Credit Suisse in Lugano. Until his retirement, a certain
Herr Hubert was handling their financial assets.
According to sources comprised of the intelligence
agencies of western countries, not only Djukanovic has had benefits from
Subotic’s money. Djukanovic’s party DPS also has allegedly received 50
million DEM from 1995 to present. That piece of information came from
interrogation by the Swiss and Austrian authorities of Srecko Kestner, who
was until recently Subotic’s business partner. According to those sources,
Subotic’s payroll also includes Montenegrin parliamentary president,
Svetozar Marovic, who is also an admirer of expensive watches and
allegedly receives a monthly fee of 100,000 DEM. This is his reward for
not getting involved, and for not halting the business dealings of his own
pupil, Brano Cupic from Herceg Novi. Nacional has also learned that
Marovic also received an apartment in the best quarter of Paris from
Subotic.
Considering that Zoran Djindjic also
submitted a letter of denial, it is worthwhile describing, in a few
sentences, his connections with Croatian citizen Stanko Subotic Cane. As
we wrote at the beginning of this article, Djindjic is the political
sponsor of Subotic’s business dealings in Serbia. Considering that he
amassed an awful lot of dirty money, Subotic quickly needed a “laundromat”
in order to clean up that money and give it some sort of a legal basis.
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The Tobacco Industry
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Subotic’s company was the largest
purchaser of cigarettes without tax stamps from British American Tobacco,
the second largest cigarette manufacturer in the world. BAT is known
worldwide for its brands Lucky Strike, Dunhill, Rothmans, Lord HB, Cartier
and Pall Mall. Subotic came to the idea that he could most easily turn
himself into a legitimate businessman if he built himself a cigarette
factory. In a deal with Ruhle, the vice-president of BAT from Zuug,
Switzerland, and with the help of BAT director Simon in Belgrade, Subotic
signed a contract to build the most modern cigarette factory in the
Balkans in a town near Kragujevac, a region with extremely high
unemployment. And Djindjic’s role? According to those well-acquainted with
the entire story, which are very close to Subotic’s crew, the entire
investment for the factory was to cost 150 million DEM. Allegedly, half
that money would come from Subotic, and the other half from BAT.
In order to get a quick return on his investment,
Subotic was to use the current Serbian government to create an illusion in
the public that he and BAT were doing a great service to reduce
unemployment in Serbia. However, those unemployed Serbians do not know
that a deal was struck which would cost neither Subotic nor BAT a single
Deutsche Mark. According to Djindjic’s proposal, the Assembly is preparing
a new law, which states that all companies, excluding BAT, would be
prevented from importing cigarettes to Serbia, and that, allegedly, was to
be done for Subotic.
BAT cigarettes manufactured in
western Europe would be treated as domestic, as a Serbian product, exempt
from taxes and any form of duties or excises. During the two year
monopoly, BAT and Subotic would earn 150 million DEM in profits, which
would be more than enough to cover the costs of completing the factory.
The entire operation to build the factory, or rather, to launder Subotic’s
money, is conducted through the company ‘D Trade’, owner by Subotic’s
company Dulwich Limited, centered on Cypress.
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Such an operation would expel not only all other
foreign cigarette manufacturers but also all other domestic ones such as
the tobacco factories at Nis and Vranje. Zoran Djindjic had to give the
political platform, for which he has been more than handsomely rewarded.
The foreign producers most hurt by such an arrangement are Phillip Morris
and Tvornica Duhan Rovinj (TDR). Allegedly, due to difficulties BAT is
experiencing in Croatia with the tobacco factory at Zadar, this is a way
to get back at TDR.
After the publication of the
article in last week’s issue of Nacional, Djindjic felt the heat and
quickly stalled everything concerning the new factory. At the same time,
BAT got up on its feet, realizing that this deal may be jeopardizing their
vital interests and perhaps that Subotic is not the right man to do long
term business with in the region. On Monday May 21, they called an
emergency meeting with Subotic, but not in Belgrade, as he requested, but
in Budapest, on neutral territory. If their plans to build the factory are
realized, all of the links in the chain will be complete. BAT will receive
a monopoly on that market, with a 40 million DEM flow through monthly.
Stanko Subotic Cane will legalize his business dealings and dirty money,
and Zoran Djindjic will obtain some new influential and wealthy friends,
which will always be of assistance in terms of political advancement and
campaign financing. Our sources in Belgrade claims that because of this
deal, Djindjic construed the scandal “sexgate” involving Vuk Obradovic,
and fired him from his post as deputy premier. The real reason is that
Obradovic allegedly caught on to Subotic
Proof that the entire political-tobacco lobbies
wishes to spread into Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia and throughout the
Balkan was seen in an event which took place this winter. Macedonian
Premier Ljupco Georgievski made an official visit to Belgrade, and after
his business was completed, he was Subotic’s guest in a nightclub owned by
Djej Ramadanovski, well known for organizing Croatian female singers to
sing at Subotic’s villa on St. Stephan. Subotic and Georgievski remained
in the night club, in the company of Ukrainian prostitutes until dawn, and
the entire while, they were guarded by the Serbian special police, which
also guards Subotic every time he lands in or departs from Belgrade. The
reason for this gleeful company between Subotic and Georgievski is that
Subotic, together with BAT, wanted to buy the Macedonian tobacco diva
‘Makedonija Tabak’, which is tops in both producing tobacco and in
cigarette manufacturing and exports. Today Makedonija Tabak has been
shaken because Georgievski buckled to US pressure, and fired the company’s
vice-president of the board Suturkova. Until Subotic’s appearance on the
tobacco scene, Suturkova was without a doubt the uncrowned tobacco king of
the Balkans, and he became this by manufacturing massive amounts of phony
Marlboro cigarettes.
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Croatian Citizens |
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Only time will likely tell what the role
of Croatian and the HDZ criminal-political lobby is in this entire story.
However, it is sure that this lobby is deeply integrated in the whole
story, because Subotic certainly did not receive his citizenship because
of his wife’s Croatian grandmother, as was stated in his written denial.
And if he did receive his passport because of this familial connection,
then why was it necessary to have the police minister’s right to
discretion? If the paperwork was all in order, why did he need Minister
Penic at all? And in the end, we ask the question once again, if Subotic
possesses Croatian documents and a residence in Zagreb, then why does he
not have to report his earnings and hand over his tax slips in the tax
office, and then pay taxes to the state on those earnings like every other
citizen in this country? It is obvious that the secret services and police
of several European countries will go public with this money laundering
affair, one of the greatest in Europe in the last twenty years, and this
will also be a slap in the face for Croatia. That is, in the entire
scandal, the only two participants which are not citizens of Croatia are
Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic and Serbian Premier Zoran Djindjic.
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