Rich Serb tried to buy a life in Canada
=== http://www.nationalpost.com/search/story.html?f=/stories/20011219/911157 .html === Isabel Vincent National Post A recent Serb news magazine heralds the twilight of the Karic dynasty in the face of corruption charges. Jean Chrétien embraces Dragomir Karic and his wife, Hafa. Bogoljub Karic TORONTO - Bogoljub Karic, the Serbian tycoon and Canadian landed immigrant who was indicted last week for commercial crimes in Yugoslavia as part of that country's biggest investigation into corruption under former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic, likes to pose for photographs. After arriving in Canada under the overseas investor program in early 1993, Mr. Karic quickly sought to become part of the North American establishment. The handsome, mustachioed businessman attended important political party fundraisers and met intellectual and business leaders, posing for photographs with everyone from Jean Chrétien, the Prime Minister, to Bill Clinton, the former U.S. president, and his wife, Hillary. He contributed to a number of charities, and made at least one contribution to the Liberal Party of Canada. "He [Mr. Karic] and his brothers went to all the important Liberal fundraisers while they were here," said a Toronto businessman, who did business with the Karic family and was close to them for several years. "They were desperately trying to become Canadian citizens, and they tried to buy their immigration status. They thought they could buy anything." According to classified Canadian government documents obtained by the National Post, they almost succeeded. Mr. Karic scrupulously noted contributions he had made to the Liberal party, among other charities, on his application for Canadian citizenship in the mid- 1990s as proof that members of the Karic family had firmly established themselves on Canadian soil and were committed to being good Canadian citizens. In a letter submitted as part of Mr. Karic's application for citizenship, his then lawyer, Stephen Green, notes that "Mr. Bogoljub Karic has been a philanthropist; he has been making numerous contributions and charitable donations to the following charitable organizations in Canada, and has made it clear that Canada is his home throughout: Covenant House Building Campaign, Canada Election (sic), United Way, Liberal Party of Canada, Canada Police Association, Metro Toronto International Caravan, Big Brothers of Peel, Serbian Orthodox Church Corp." All receipts for these contributions are addressed to Dan Jan International Inc., a company incorporated in Ontario in August, 1992, by Mr. Karic and his three brothers, Sreten, Zoran and Dragomir. Mr. Karic is the youngest of the four brothers, who are former tavern musicians from Kosovo. They started out in business by opening a small farming implements shop in their hometown of Pec. They built a vast global fortune with the aid of a small-business loan from the then Communist government in Yugoslavia in the 1980s. But in Yugoslavia, government officials say the brothers built their fortune, rumoured to be close to US$4-billion today, by other means as well. They have accused Mr. Karic, who will be 48 next month, of profiting financially from a decade-long friendship with Mr. Milosevic. According to Mladjan Dinkic, governor of the National Bank of Yugoslavia, Mr. Karic continues to act, in effect, as the Milosevic family banker, investing part of the family's money even as Mr. Milosevic awaits trial on genocide and war crimes charges at a tribunal in The Hague. Mr. Dinkic also says Mr. Karic transferred large sums of money out of the country and into Cyprus-based companies he controls. Last month, the National Bank of Yugoslavia liquidated Mr. Karic's bank in the Yugoslav capital of Belgrade when it could not pay a US$30-million profit tax imposed on companies that benefited financially from their ties to Mr. Milosevic. Mr. Karic has vehemently denied the charges against him. Recently, he went on national television to say the charges are part of a plot by his political enemies to undermine his business opportunities in Yugoslavia. In addition to a bank, Mr. Karic and his brothers own a mobile telephone company (Mobtel), a television station (BK Television) and a private university in Yugoslavia. They also have holdings in Russia and in the United Kingdom. In the fall of 1992, a few months after the international community imposed economic sanctions on Yugoslavia over its war in Croatia, Mr. Karic decided to expand his empire to Canada. In an interview with a reporter from The Toronto Star, he said he and his brothers wanted to operate their businesses in Canada "because it's an open and democratic society ... a place of opportunity." Mr. Karic said Yugoslavia, a communist country that was rapidly becoming a pariah after the United Nations imposed sanctions in May, 1992, was no longer a good base from which to operate a business empire. At the time, he said BK Family Holdings, the company owned by the Karic clan, included everything from textile plants in China and India to banks in Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union. Between 1992 and 1996, Mr. Karic incorporated four companies in Ontario. Dan Jan International, the company that made contributions to the Liberal Party of Canada, was, according to a classified Canadian government document recently obtained by the National Post, "an Ontario- based corporation involved in numerous business concerns, including the manufacturing and exporting of cosmetic products as well as the exportation of Canadian knowledge, technology and equipment in the field of construction." When they arrived in Canada, Mr. Karic and his wife, Milanka, managed, apparently, to qualify for Canadian citizenship with lightning speed. Between Feb. 8, 1993, the day they first arrived in Canada, and Feb. 9, 1993, when a stamp on their passport shows they left the country and entered England, Mr. Karic and his wife obtained social insurance numbers, Ontario health cards and credit cards issued by the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, which also granted the family a mortgage on at least one of their properties in Southern Ontario. "It seems inconceivable to me that so many tasks can be accomplished in one day," says Walter Borosa, the Citizenship Court judge, now retired, who presided over the Karic family's citizenship application. When the Karics appeared before him in a Woodbridge, Ont., court on March 12, 1997, Judge Borosa initially granted them citizenship. But, in a recent interview, he said that when he reviewed their application, he began to have doubts. A month after their court appearance, Judge Borosa revoked his decision. In a letter dated April 29, 1997, addressed to Bogoljub and Milanka Karic, Judge Borosa outlined his decision, noting: "I am left with real doubt that you established, let alone maintained, sufficient ties with Canada during your absences to have those absences count as periods of residence under the Act." In fact, over a three-year period (Feb. 8, 1993, to June 9, 1996), Mr. Karic was in Canada only 129 days; his wife was here for 102 days during the same period. Judge Borosa also noted in his decision that although Mr. Karic had indeed invested in real estate and incorporated companies in Ontario, they were mostly administered by third parties while the Karics were outside the country. "All other attempts to prove permanent settlement in Canada, e.g. purchase of residence, household effects and services, philanthropic actions, were carried out at arm's length by third parties," Judge Borosa noted in his decision. "Equally, other submitted statements in support of the establishment and maintenance of a Canadian centrality of mode of living are questionable -- e.g. establishment of personal bank accounts on February 6, 1993, prior to actual arrival in Canada two days later; curiously, Mr. Karic was able to register with a [Toronto-based] physician a month before initial arrival to this country." According to the Toronto businessman who worked with the family for several years, on at least one occasion the Karics purchased airline tickets in order to support their citizenship application with proof that they had been in Canada. The tickets were never used, he said. In an attempt to get his client's citizenship approved, Mr. Green, the lawyer retained by the Karics, noted that Mr. Karic and his wife needed to be absent from Canada in order to attend to their vast financial empire around the world. "Since emigrating to Canada, Mr. Karic has incorporated four Ontario-based corporations and has systematically redirected his overseas enterprises to his new centre of operation in Canada. Dan Jan International Inc. now has offices in Moscow. In addition, Mr. Karic is involved in several ongoing joint projects in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. His personal attention is required for the negotiation of business deals and the resolution of complex issues. Mr. Karic has been able to draw on his extensive network of contacts worldwide to further the goals of his Canadian companies, to the benefit of Canadian citizens and the Canadian economy." Furthermore, Judge Borosa was informed that "Mr. Karic was instrumental in the release of the Canadian peacekeepers being held as hostages in Bosnia" in the summer of 1995. During the standoff between UN forces and the Bosnian Serb government in the spring of that year, the Bosnian Serbs had kidnapped some 400 UN personnel in May. Although they released most of their prisoners, 12 Canadian UN peacekeepers, along with 14 others, were still being held hostage a month later in retaliation for NATO air strikes. It is not clear just how they were released, although several news reports suggest it happened as a result of pressure on the Bosnian Serb forces from the Milosevic government. Judge Borosa said he was impressed with this last detail, but that when he made enquiries in Ottawa, "I could not find proof" that the Canadians had been released because of Mr. Karic's actions, he said in an interview yesterday. Under the Citizenship Act, if someone has done something extraordinary to benefit Canada, certain requirements of citizenship could be overlooked, Judge Borosa said. It is not clear whether Mr. Karic played a role in the release of the Canadian peacekeepers, although he was at that time very well connected to the Milosevic government. He was also very close to the Milosevic family personally. The Karic family bought a mansion next to the Milosevic family home in the opulent Dedinje suburb of Belgrade, where they currently live. Mr. Karic also held a short-lived Cabinet post in Mr. Milosevic's government, and has said that he persuaded the former Yugoslav leader to surrender to NATO forces in the summer of 1999. Mr. Karic said he resigned from his government post because he was frustrated that his measures to open Serbia up to foreign investors had not been implemented. Last fall, when Mr. Milosevic was ousted from power by a popular uprising in Belgrade, Mr. Karic began publicly distancing himself from his friend. He also began selling off his assets in Canada. This summer he sold a large home in Vaughan, the Toronto suburb, that was the family's Canadian residence. Although Mr. Karic no longer has any assets registered in his name in Canada, his extended family still lives here. Their lifestyle, according to the Toronto business associate who knows them, is quite opulent. "They behave like movie stars," said the former associate, who did not want to be identified by name. "They drive Bentleys and Lamborghinis, and eat at the best restaurants." According to another former Karic associate, luxury-goods stores on Toronto's posh Bloor Street have been known to close their doors to other patrons when members of the Karic clan go shopping. This exclusivity appears to be part of the family's mystique. A press release prepared for the Karic family features a coat of arms and traces their roots back to famous Kosovar merchants of the 18th century. "In Yugoslavia, people who work for Bogoljub call him 'president,' " said Mr. Karic's former Toronto business associate. "He drives around in a motorcade, and when he was in Belgrade, he used to be able to buy anything he wanted. I think things may be changing now, though." THE END ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?bUrHhl.bVKZIr Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
