Security services register that several thousand people are involved in usury in Montenegro, which does not correspond to the small number of reports against people engaged in this illegal business, so the number of those who borrowed money at interest and ended up without valuable property, money, or in the worst case, their lives is officially unknown.
This is what "Vijesti"'s interlocutors from the relevant services claim, explaining that loan sharking rarely existed as an isolated business in the past, but that the trend of crime has changed in recent years in that "area" as well.
The extent of this business is evident from the fact that some of the victims claimed that the loan sharks knew about every change in their bank accounts before they did and that they immediately received new calls or threats.
"In previous years, loan sharking was almost always associated with organized criminal groups, primarily due to the coercive mechanisms available to these groups. However, in recent years, more and more people, mostly younger people, who are not members of organized criminal groups, have entered the loan sharking business, so it can be said that in recent years this number has been measured in thousands of organizers and other participants in loan sharking," the interlocutors of "Vijesti" state.
The same sources remind that usury - lending money for disproportionate financial gain, is a serious criminal offense that is sanctioned by the Criminal Code.
According to this law, a person who receives or contracts for himself or another a disproportionate material benefit for the service of lending money or other consumable items will be punished with a fine or imprisonment for up to three years for the basic form of the offense.
A prison sentence of six months to five years will be imposed if serious property damage has occurred, or the perpetrator has obtained a large material benefit, and a prison sentence of one to eight years if the usurer is organized or part of a criminal group.
One of the newspaper's interlocutors states that lending money at interest is still deeply rooted in organized crime, and that their victims and those of "individual" loan sharks are usually those who are in a difficult financial situation and who cannot obtain loans from banks.
"Debtors, or users of moneylenders' services, are different categories of persons who, due to their inability to settle their financial obligations, resort to borrowing money with interest, from several categories of moneylenders, members of organized crime groups and other criminogenic and security-interested persons who have acquired capital through criminal activities. In addition, they also take money, with high interest, from individuals who previously did not belong to criminal structures, but who used legal money from the sale of property, company profits... as initial capital in this illegal business, in order to 'fertilize' it as quickly as possible... Borrowing money with high interest rates has provided disproportionate benefits to moneylenders, especially due to the inability of debtors to settle their debts," the interlocutors of "Vijesti" point out.
They state that this allows usurers to acquire valuable real estate throughout Montenegro, the region, European Union countries and beyond...
One of the interviewees explains that in a large number of cases the same pattern is repeated: "People who borrow small amounts of money from loan sharks fall into debt bondage, and end up repaying tens or hundreds of thousands of euros to criminal individuals - loan sharks."
The same source adds that a particular danger for the wider community is that in recent years young people have increasingly become in debt, incurring huge debts through gambling.
"Since these individuals and their families are unable to repay these debts, these younger individuals become easy targets for recruitment to commit even the most serious crimes, because that is how they 'repay' the debt," explains the interlocutor of "Vijesti".
He adds that security services have also registered other, very important risks that this criminal business brings:
"People in debt bondage are charged enormously high interest rates, often monthly interest rates of 10, 20 percent or more. They are exposed to intimidation and violence, because in the event of a delay, moneylenders often use physical force against them or seize their real estate - houses, apartments, cars... which serve as unofficial collateral, or force them to conclude fictitious purchase and sale contracts. For this very reason, special attention has been paid to the work of certain notaries throughout Montenegro, who, according to our knowledge, participate in deliberate fraud," he explained.
One source states that loan sharks actually use these specific methods to "legalize" criminal activities.
"They legalize illegally acquired property by forcing the victim to sign a contract for the sale of an apartment or land with a notary, instead of a loan agreement. Then, if the money is not returned on time, the property is automatically transferred to the usurer"...
The security sector states that lending money to clan members is also used to "launder" money earned from smuggling and distributing drugs.
They also cite loan shark intermediaries as a very problematic segment, who, according to operational knowledge, "usually find a living in casinos or among failed businessmen."
Research by "Vijesti" shows that debt bondage does not only happen to the "irresponsible". Anyone can fall into it - both the calm and the hardworking, both the hardworking and the responsible, both the strong and the weak. The loan sharks are just waiting for a moment of weakness.
This is confirmed by the survey results - some citizens took on debt out of necessity, when institutional assistance was unavailable or too slow, while a significant number went into debt to maintain a lifestyle beyond their realistic means or to cover gambling losses, decisions that today, in a conversation with a journalist, they recognize as serious personal mistakes.
Banks do not disclose information
One of the usurious victims previously told Vijesti that while they were pursuing him, the usurers knew what they shouldn't have known - the exact day his salary would be deposited into his account.
"Not the day the company pays, but the day the money is deposited in my account. They know exactly. I checked to see if anyone from the bank was notifying the interest-paying banks when my payments were made, I asked the company to 'delay' me by a few days, or not to pay when they paid the others. No matter how late they were, there were no calls, but as soon as it was recorded - here it is," the thirty-year-old seaman from southern Montenegro, who claims to have been "pulling" the debt since he was 21, told Vijesti.
Of the initial 18.000 euros he borrowed from a high-ranking member of the Škalja clan, he claims to have paid back almost half a million so far. Not only to that repeatedly arrested criminal, but also to "comrades" who gave him "well-intentioned" advice to repay his debt to the Škalja clan and borrow from another clan - the Kavač clan.
In the end, he says, they asked him to pay off the debt by turning a blind eye to a cocaine shipment on the ship he was sailing on...
When asked whether they had ever received a complaint from that client that any bank employee had informally or unofficially informed third parties about the inflows of money into his accounts, both banks said that they operate legally and apply strict protection measures.
“The Bank operates in accordance with applicable regulations and applies strict internal policies, technical and organizational measures to protect its clients' data. So far, no reports have been received, nor have any actions been identified that would indicate unauthorized disclosure or misuse of information about the accounts of the said client. In its operations, the Bank remains committed to preserving client trust and continuously improving data protection standards. The Bank operates in accordance with applicable laws and internal procedures, including obligations prescribed by the Law on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism and relevant by-laws. During the duration of the business relationship and the execution of transactions, standard measures of knowledge and monitoring of client operations and issues related to the origin of funds are applied, which is a legal obligation of all credit institutions, as well as other entities subject to the Law on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism”... they responded, stating that they remain “consistent in applying the law, protecting the confidentiality of client data and continuously improving internal control mechanisms”.
The other bank said that, as a socially responsible company and a strictly controlled financial institution, they have a zero tolerance rate when it comes to the unauthorized sharing of personal data of bank clients.
"The bank manages this data with due care, as well as data that constitute banking secrecy. The data you provide in your question is considered banking secrecy and disclosing this data constitutes a criminal offense."
The Bank has not, in accordance with the law, received any objection or any other form of complaint on this subject from the aforementioned client as of today. Also, the Central Bank of Montenegro has not contacted us regarding this issue in the complaint procedure. The Bank has no data or information that any employee of the Bank has informally or unofficially informed third parties about the inflows of money," they explained...
Responding to the question of what internal procedures and control mechanisms the bank implements to prevent unauthorized sharing of client data, especially financial transaction data, they said:
"In addition to being required to implement regulations that protect clients from unauthorized sharing of their personal data as well as data that is considered banking secrecy, the bank has a developed system of internal controls and protection systems that protect it from exposure to this type of risk. Every activity in the bank's system is recorded and the bank, with the help of internal controls, can determine any unauthorized access to data and take strict sanctions against employees if unauthorized disclosure of personal data or banking secrecy data to third parties is proven."
They also state that they have no knowledge of the case of the Vijesti correspondent, nor has he complained to them.
"The bank has no knowledge of the case you mention, nor has it received a complaint from the aforementioned gentleman. From your address, we cannot conclude to what period this case refers, and we are at Mr. **'s disposal to verify any type of doubt regarding his business with the bank... As we have already stated, the bank has no recorded complaints, so in this case it could not initiate actions in accordance with business standards and internal procedures that define this area," they explained, adding that they are at the client's disposal because integrity and acting in accordance with the law are of the utmost importance to their bank.
Danilo Bojović: I have nothing to do with usury
Danilo Blagoja Bojović, a resident of Žablja, announced that he is not the person mentioned as D. Bojović in the text "They are taking away apartments, houses and excavators."
“Regarding the text that was published yesterday, February 10, 2026, on your portal vijesti.me under the title 'They are stealing apartments, houses and excavators: Usury in Montenegro', due to a series of unpleasant events that followed its publication, I am forced to make this statement. The text states: "a certain D. Bojović, from Žablja, who is engaged in usury and debt evasion."
"I must emphasize that I, Danilo Blagoja Bojović, from Žabljak, have no connection with the activities and criminal organizations mentioned in the text," he wrote in his response...
Maković Brothers: There is no evidence, no proceedings against us
Nikola Maković reacted to the article "Keljmendi, Osmani, Škaljari and Kavački usurers", stating that there is no evidence that he and his brother did this.
"Regarding the publication on the Vijesti portal, which mentions the Maković brothers in the context of engaging in loan sharking and where our initials are listed, we categorically deny the previous publication and point out that it is untrue, because there is no evidence, proceedings or anything else against us in that regard," he wrote in his response.
In tomorrow's "News", read how the Skalja criminal group operates in the context of loan sharking, which fan group some of them are in contact with, and which Podgorica cells of that clan lend money at interest. Read also how a Podgorica resident won a loan shark case in court, and the prosecution dismissed his complaint...
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