Among the dozens of members of criminal clans from the Zeta area who are involved in loan sharking, according to operational data from security services, some of the gravel thieves, as well as the owners of a well-known restaurant chain, are also involved in this illegal business.
Operational documents show that most of them have been accumulating illegally acquired property for years, and the services have also registered the way they conceal the fact that they have acquired valuable real estate by keeping people in debt slavery.
"Vijesti" sources state that the services have also registered a form by which they conceal how they obtained valuable real estate - through the mechanism of debt bondage, in which the debt turns into a noose, and the signature into a verdict.
"Recently, two usurers from the Zeta area acquired extremely valuable property in Podgorica. We believe that the model was the same as in most cases so far - through deliberate fraud, that is, in a way that they purposefully and systematically do not take over the installments so that the deadline written in the, most often fictitious contract, expires. This is followed by pressure to pay off the entire claim, calculating interest on interest, which makes debt repayment impossible. When the victims realize that they cannot repay the debt, there is only one thing left for them - to sign a consent for the transfer of ownership," sources from the security sector state.
They also explained how the mechanism of organized debt collection at interest works, highlighting the brutality of certain loan sharks from the Zeta area.
"In addition to psychological pressure, harassment of debtors literally from minute to minute, operational data also indicates that some of the loan sharks from Zeta constantly intimidate their clients, even if they are an hour late with the war, they threaten them, beat them, abuse them. And in these cases, which have so far remained unreported, the most common reason why they remain beyond the reach of justice is the victim's fear, the lack of material evidence, because the money is handed over without a receipt," the interlocutors explain.
Vijesti recently wrote about the brutality of one of the loan sharks from Zeta, in the confession of one of his victims, who admitted that she was in debt bondage due to gambling.
"...The problem is that once you take the money, they don't let you get out. That's the only truth. They do that by calculating interest on interest, pressure, threats. To clarify, if you owe a moneylender 3.000 euros and you pay him 300 euros a month, if you don't have it on the day you're supposed to pay him, he says okay, now you owe me 5.000 euros, because I was supposed to earn that much from those 300 euros today. That's what they do B. Rasovic from Zeta, he is the most brutal. He locks people in the trunk, drives them, beats them, kidnaps them... They do similar things and A. Vujović i P. Kujović from Podgorica. No one can deal with that," the interviewee recently told Vijesti.
Interest in all clans
Intelligence data shows that in the Zeta area, members of the Škalja and Kavač clans, as well as other organized criminal groups, such as the one whose leader is Igor Krstović, but also people close to persons of security interest - brothersand Lambulić.
"From the Zeta area, in addition to several members of OKG Igor Krstović - S. Ivezić, St. Popovic, P. Krstović, B. Popović, Sr. Popović and many others, several other Zeta security-interested individuals were involved in the loan sharking," operational data shows.
The intelligence officers came across some of the loan sharks from Zeta while deepening their knowledge about the loan sharks from Budva, because, as they say, they have the same victims, who each owe them several hundred thousand euros at interest, and a total of several million euros...
The operational documents list the names of the Budva moneylenders from whom the thirty-year-old from Budva borrowed 400.000 euros, but also explain how the debt grew to 630.000 euros in a short period of time.
It was also explained that the same Budvanin borrowed money from several people of security interest, and then, with the help of an intermediary, Sr. Popović, he reached out to the moneylender B. Popović from Zeta, Krstović's associate.
“According to recent data, Krstović's associate who is extremely active in moneylending is B. Popović... A person of interest from Budva for security reasons MK who owes several million euros taken with interest from several security-interested persons from Montenegro and abroad, among others, B. Popović owes significant funds with interest. We recently registered a series of threats made by Popović to K. and his family. Sr. Popović acted as an intermediary during the transfer of money between K. and B. Popović,” the newspaper’s interlocutors explain.
Security sector operatives also emphasize that they have registered that the Lambulić brothers' associate - R. Adžiahmetović "has intensified his loan sharking activities."
They also state that it has been observed that Adžiahmetović "occasionally crosses state borders with the sons of the Lambulić brothers."
"In addition to them, Zeta security-interested individuals are also involved in the loan sharking: M. Vučković, Dj. Pelicic, B. Maras, M. Ceković, B. Rasovic, P. Đuretić, brothers D. i D. Radičković, then two Knežević - M. and R., as well as the three Matanović - V., M. and D. as well as M. Roncevic i J. Bećirović and numerous other persons, including individuals who are recognized as persons who illegally extract gravel from the Morača River... It has been recorded that Bećirović has very indicative contacts and close cooperation with some of the more significant organizers of usury activities in the recent period, primarily with the criminal Rončević, with whom he organizes usury transactions," Vijesti's interlocutors explain.
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.
Whoever lends money or other consumable items and thereby contracts a disproportionate material benefit shall be punished by imprisonment for up to three years and a fine, reads the description of the criminal offense of "usury" in the Criminal Code (CC) of Montenegro.
If the usurer "takes advantage of the poor financial situation, difficult circumstances, necessity, frivolity or insufficient ability to reason of the injured party", he will be punished with imprisonment from three months to three years and a fine.
The Criminal Code stipulates that a loan shark can be punished with imprisonment from six months to five years and a fine if serious consequences have occurred for the injured party or the perpetrator has obtained material gain in an amount exceeding three thousand euros.
"Vijesti" has already reported that the security sector emphasizes that there are no results in the fight against loan sharks due to several main problems in prosecuting loan shark groups - the victim's fear, the lack of material evidence...
"...The only evidence is often the victim's testimony, and often the withdrawal of the statement. It often happens that the victim reports usury, but under pressure or threats at the trial itself, changes her statement and says that she was actually only given a favor and that it was an interest-free loan. Then the case falls apart," the documents state.
In the midst of a feuilleton about the scale of usury in Montenegro, the Police Directorate announced that, by order of the director of that security institution, Lazar Šćepanović, two special teams have been formed with the task of systematically and thoroughly examining all cases of usury reported so far, as well as investigating how their colleagues acted in these cases in the previous period. They also stated that the task of these teams is to take all legally prescribed measures and actions in new cases, with special care and sensitivity, in order to protect the personal and property security of citizens.
Explaining that usury is often linked to other criminal acts, such as violent behavior, extortion, threats, and physical injuries, the security institution called on citizens to report usury to them, guaranteeing them a professional and conspiratorial approach...
Applications are available...
A Montenegrin citizen, who has lived and worked in Canada for years, reported to the police both loan sharks and a former friend who helped them defraud her, take her money, her apartment, and break up her marriage... First the Basic Prosecutor's Office, and then the Higher State Prosecutor's Office, dismissed her criminal complaint, assessing that the actions of the reported individuals did not bear the hallmarks of a criminal offense...
In the end, she filed a lawsuit against her former friend at the Basic Court in Podgorica. A. Camaj, her partner M. Pejović and his parents O. i Mr. Pejović.
Telling the journalist how she fell into a web of fraud and loan sharks, she says that it all started less than four years ago, when she was on vacation with her children.
She adds that her "friend" first tried her best to destroy her marriage, and then "became" a shoulder to cry on and offered her financial help when her husband, in Canada, blocked her bank accounts...
She points out that it all started at the moment when she was most vulnerable, in a difficult period in her life, thousands of kilometers away from home and her son, whom she had escorted onto the plane that night, when they began to draw her into the net.
"That very night I was faced with the divorce process, under pressure, with the feeling that everything was falling apart and that I urgently needed to 'patch' things up. I live in Canada, but I had property in Montenegro and the belief that there were still people here who I could trust. Among them was a childhood friend. I trusted her without reservation. She was one of the few people I turned to when I was at my most difficult, I had no idea that it was she who, through intrigue, had arranged for me to find myself in that problem," says the interviewee of "Vijesti".
Explaining that she stayed in Podgorica that night with her underage daughter, her accounts blocked, in total chaos...
"Supposedly consoling me that everything would be fine, my friend told me that M. had money, and that she could lend it to me, and that all that was needed was to 'formally' sign the contract with a notary and give authorization for someone here to complete the administration while I was in Canada, it seemed like a 'normal procedure'. I had no experience with such things, nor did I think with a cool head in that state. Today I know that everything was based on that trust and my absence," she says.
He adds that the verbal agreement was clear - a loan of 40.000 euros, a repayment period of two years, with a monthly interest rate of eight percent.
She admits that even then it was a huge interest rate, but that she was convinced that she could withstand it, that it was temporary and that, when things stabilized, she would close everything.
"However, when I got to the notary, I realized something was wrong. Notary Lekić refused to sign the contract, they sent me back home and then came to take me to the notary who would certify the contract, saying that everything was finished. Although I refused, I signed a document that, as I later realized, was the key to the fraud - the contract stated 150.000 euros, interest-free, and the repayment period - two months. I also signed mortgage statements on two apartments, one in Podgorica and the other in Bar. Completely unaware of everything that was happening," says the interviewee of Vijesti.
She points out that the money she actually received had nothing to do with what was written in the contract.
"I received part of it in my hands, part was paid into an account. A total of about 40.000 euros, and the security of two apartments whose value is many times greater than that amount. At that time, everything was presented to me as a 'formality', as something done to keep the papers clean."
Concluding that the papers were a trap, she also says that she had to leave some of the administrative matters to someone in Montenegro, because she was not there, and she says that the wife of the man who formally gave her the loan, or rather the parents of her "friend's" partner, appeared with them at the notary's office.
Believing that it would help her, she gave her a power of attorney, even though no one told her that with that power of attorney, things could be done that could make her life miserable and that such a document, if in the wrong hands, could become leverage to seize property.
She states that she returned to Canada believing that she had, to some extent, overcome the most difficult moment and that she had no idea what was happening at the same time.
She also says that she was shocked when she arrived in Montenegro in August 2024.
"By checking the cadastre, I found out that the apartment in Bar is no longer mine, that it is registered in the name of G. Pejović... Following this information, I came across information that in my absence, enforcement proceedings were initiated through a public bailiff and that, in my name, a direct settlement was concluded for the amount of 70.000 euros. Based on this, as I understood it, it was possible for him to be registered as the owner. I was not informed about this. I did not give my consent. I did not know that any procedure existed. No one called me, no one explained to me, no one told me that the 'debt' of 150.000 euros, which I never received, was being used as a basis to take my property, which is not only mine, but acquired during my marriage to my ex-husband and which I could not, even if I wanted to, sell myself, let alone give away," she says.
"Friend" also stole from the account
A special part of the story of the interviewee of "Vijesti" is the disappearance of money from the account and the role of her childhood friend in it.
Vijesti's interviewee says that out of the agreed 40.000 euros in loans, she actually used less than 20.000 euros, and that she authorized Camaj to use an account in a bank, so that, after he sorted out the accounts in Canada, she would transfer the rest of the money to her...
"According to the agreement, part of the funds were to be transferred to Canada, so that I could manage the money there. On two occasions, amounts of 4.000 and 7.500 euros were withdrawn and paid into my friend's account in Canada through M. Pejović. This was done according to my instructions and there is documentation about this. However, in the period from September 2023 to January 2024, other amounts were withdrawn from my account, without my knowledge. Later, I found out that a total of 22.800 euros had been withdrawn and appropriated. When I asked for an explanation, I received evasive responses, confusing answers, and ultimately a wall of silence. I was blocked on the phone. My documents and cards remained with her. She only returned my ID card after the police were involved, that is, after I came to report it, and the inspector received an urgent call that he had another, important case," she says...
She also told the journalist that it was only when she returned to Montenegro that she realized that it was not a misunderstanding or poor communication, but that she had been deceived, and that each of them had their own role - some to make the contract, others to provide authorization, a third to make moves while she was away, and a fourth to take the money.
"And everything was easier because I was in Canada - absent, distant, unable to follow what was being done in my country in my name. Because of all this, I reported both the loan sharks and my former friend to the police. I reported because I was left without money. I reported because I was left without an apartment in Bar. I reported because there was a real fear that the same mechanism could be applied to another apartment in Podgorica, because there was a mortgage on it too. And I reported because all of this destroyed my private life - and completely destroyed my marriage," she says.
He also explains that he is telling the story as a warning - to let people know what it looks like when trust turns into a mechanism for robbery.
"And how one decision, a signature at the wrong time, and the wrong people around you can take everything away from you - your money, your apartments, and the life you've built," she says.
In tomorrow's "News", read who the security services have identified as institutional supporters of the loan sharks, and the confession of one of the victims...
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