Some notaries and lawyers in support of usurers: Usury in Montenegro (22)

Security services have listed certain notaries and lawyers as prominent associates of loan sharks, who, they claim, help them conceal their usurious business with fictitious purchase or fiduciary contracts.

This is stated in intelligence documents, which specify that fiduciary contracts are a favorite tool of moneylenders, and that the biggest challenge for the state is notarial contracts that look legal on paper. The scheme is simple - on paper a sale or fiduciary, in practice a loan with extreme interest and a mechanism for taking over the property.

The security services' files list the names of several notaries and lawyers who have valuable real estate registered in their own names and in the names of close relatives, which is why the security services suspect that they are not just silent observers and helpers of the moneylenders, but their accomplices...

Intelligence officers also find support for such suspicions in documentation seized throughout Montenegro during police operations against members of organized crime groups.

"In several police operations, such as Operation 'Kavač', investigators seized hundreds of loan contracts, as well as documentation on real estate that had passed into the hands of OKG members, in the name of debts," the sources said, citing operational data.

During the investigation into the scale of usury in Montenegro, several interlocutors, who have been suffocating in debt slavery for years, told "Vijesti" that certain notaries assisted in the seizure of property from those who, for whatever reason, had taken on debt with usurers...

Almost without exception, they claimed that already prepared contracts were waiting for them in the notary's offices, that no one requested any checks, nor did they think to determine whether the money was actually handed over in the stated amount, under what conditions and in what manner, nor to check whether the content of the contract corresponded to the actual will and agreement of the parties.

"In order to better secure funds, numerous criminal entities engage law firms that conclude either fiduciary contracts, which guarantee the transfer of ownership of pledged assets if the money is not returned within the agreed timeframe, or fictitious purchase and sale contracts. We have previously received information that a notary (name known to the editorial team) is most often used to certify fiduciary contracts, which ensure the collection of claims by usurers in the event of outstanding financial obligations. The role of several lawyers and notaries (names known to the editorial team) in providing legal and notarial services for usurious participants has been highlighted... Some of them have a large number of real estate worth millions, they use expensive cars, which is why there were indications that they were also involved in usurious activities," show operational data, which also lists the names of several other notaries and lawyers whose services are used by leading members of criminal groups when concluding usurious contracts...

Sources from the security sector explain that, in the favorite tools of usurers - fiduciary contracts, property is formally transferred to the creditor, or usurer, with the agreement that it will be returned to the owner when the debt is paid off.

"In almost all situations, the debt with interest increases so much that repayment almost never occurs," the interlocutors of "Vijesti" state.

One source from the security sector explains that victims are often faced with deliberate fraud by loan sharks, who refuse to take over the money so they can seize the pledged property.

"In addition, by charging interest on interest, but also increasing the debt from hour to hour, the loan sharks keep them in debt slavery until the moment the deadline set in the contract expires. Then they activate fictitious purchase or fiduciary contracts and transfer ownership. However, the biggest challenge for the state are notarial contracts that look legal on paper. For example, a victim borrows 10.000 euros, and signs at the notary's office that they have received 20.000 euros and that they are providing their apartment as a guarantee. It is difficult for the court to prove that the other 10.000 euros actually represent illegal interest," intelligence data shows.

The security sector emphasizes that lending money for disproportionate material 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 gain, and a prison sentence of one to eight years if the act is committed in an organized manner or as part of a criminal group.

Recalling that usury in Montenegro is deeply rooted in organized crime, the security sector states that the victims are usually people in a difficult financial situation, who cannot obtain loans from banks.

As "Vijesti" previously reported, the security sector has registered the main risks of this illegal business - enormously high interest rates, which exceed 20 percent on a monthly basis, then intimidation and violence, as well as the loss of property of debtors, or victims.

"In the event of a delay, loan sharks often use threats, physical force or confiscation of real estate - houses, apartments, vehicles, etc., which serve as unofficial collateral. Most often, fictitious purchase and sale contracts are concluded with notaries so that the loan sharks can take over the victim's property if the debt is not repaid... Loan sharks in Montenegro use specific methods to 'legalize' these criminal acts - fictitious contracts with notaries, who agree that the victim signs a contract for the sale of an apartment or land in front of them, instead of a loan contract. If the money is not returned on time, the property is automatically transferred to the loan shark. In addition, doubling the debt by calculating interest on interest makes repayment impossible in just a few months, which leads to the victim's complete dependence," said interlocutors from the security sector.

They also reiterate that the organizers of usury are most often individuals with extensive police records, connected to drug smuggling, who use usury to "launder" money earned from drug smuggling, that almost all organized crime groups and security-sensitive individuals connected to them are involved in this illegal business, but also that recently it has been registered that more and more younger people are spreading usury networks among people of poor financial status, addicted to gambling, psychoactive substances...

"There are greenhorns in almost all social spheres, as well as their victims, and it is registered that they also have intermediaries. These are usually people who find victims in casinos or among failed businessmen," the newspaper's sources explain.

They add that the main problems in prosecuting loan shark groups in Montenegro are the victim's fear and the lack of material evidence, and that the only evidence is often the victim's testimony, but that in a large number of cases, the injured parties retract their statements.

"It often happens that the victim reports usury, but under pressure or threats at the trial, changes his statement and says that the usurer was actually just doing him a favor and that it was an interest-free loan. Then the case falls apart...", the newspaper's interlocutors state.

No one sees usury.

The "Vijesti" interlocutor from Bar, however, is one of those who did not change his statement. On the contrary, he has been trying for years to prove that through deliberate fraud, due to a debt of less than 25.000 euros, they were left without property worth around 700.000 euros. No one will listen to him - first the prosecutor's office, and then the competent courts, refused to believe the evidence that their property in Dobre Vode was seized.

While they were trying to prove that they were victims of a fraud in which, according to their claims, a notary also participated, his father, who had borrowed 35.000 euros from a neighbor in 2014, died.

Showing bank slips, each of which shows the amount of 1.236 euros, which is what they agreed to repay over four years, Baranin says that even that didn't help them in court.

"In 2014, my late father borrowed 35.000 euros from a neighbor. We needed it for some family problems that have nothing to do with a comfortable life, gambling or anything else. The neighbor lives in Switzerland and, as far as we know, is not a usurer, but at least a dozen people from Bar and Ulcinj borrowed money from him in the same way and ended up without property in the same way. The parents went with him to the notary, signed a contract that he would lend them 59.300 euros, which means that interest of 24.300 euros was immediately calculated in the contract," says the newspaper's interlocutor, showing a contract certified by a notary.

The contract, which is secured by a mortgage on their property, specifies that the maturity date is June 17, 2018, by which time the borrower is required to repay the borrowed funds, interest-free, in equal monthly installments of 1.236 euros.

"The notary did not ask for the money to be handed over to the office, nor any confirmation that it was borrowed, which we never disputed, but we dispute that the money was borrowed without interest, that 59.300 euros were taken, as well as the way in which our property was taken away. He knew how much the property was worth when he entered into the contract according to which we were supposed to repay the debt in four years, which we were not allowed to do, but after two years the mortgage was activated and the land and two business premises were taken away, despite the fact that we practically begged to pay back the debt, and the neighbor chased my father away from the gate and reported him to the police, for which we have witnesses," he says.

He points out that the problems began when his father was late with his monthly payment, and his neighbor activated the mortgage in order to, he claims, seize their property.

"My father went to him, carrying the entire remainder of the debt, he was with witnesses. Very influential and well-known people from our neighborhood, powerful businessmen, begged him to take the money and return our property, but in vain. In the end, he stopped contacting them, and when my father went to take the entire money to him, he called the police and reported him," adds the Baranin.

Took property, collects rent

He recalls that they faced disaster after that.

"First, the man who rented the business premises from us reported that he now had to pay rent to him, and then we checked with the cadastre that it was registered as our property. I don't understand how the prosecutor didn't see all this," he concludes...

He points out that one of the witnesses, in front of whom the money was borrowed, told everything to the Bar police when they went to report the theft of the property. He also cites other witnesses, who, he adds, can confirm that they tried in vain to get out of debt...

"That was a bit much for the prosecutor, I won't mention him because he retired, and he refused to initiate proceedings, concluding that there were no elements that a criminal offense had been committed. How can there be none, when a man took our property after two years because of a debt that we were supposed to repay over four years? How can there be none, if we have witnesses who confirm all this and payment slips that we were repaying him? At least 11 payment slips, and through the bank account it can be determined how much was repaid. That means, even if it's only those 11, that he took our property because of the actual debt of 21.404 euros, without calculating interest, and before the deadline. Still, let's calculate interest, which my father agreed to in 2014, he took two business premises from us that he had recently sold for 500.000 euros, for a debt of 37.896 euros, which he wouldn't allow us to repay," he says...

Baranin emphasizes that the actual value of the property that was taken from them is around 700.000 euros...

Answering the question of how they borrowed money with interest from someone who, as they say, is not a usurer, they reiterate that they are not the only ones who have borrowed money in the same way, under the same conditions, from the same person.

"He has not been recognized as a usurer, but there are several people whose property he took in this way, and who borrowed money from him. This was not symptomatic of either the prosecution or the court to which the father turned. Despite the evidence, the most important of which is that the property was seized before the deadline, they were unable to recognize a usurious contract. Despite the fact that we are seeking justice, I am no longer sure that we will get it, because the institutions will not, or are unable to, see that this is classic usury and usury, or that it is a criminal offense," adds the interlocutor to "Vijesti"...

Research by "Vijesti" shows that debt bondage does not only happen to the "irresponsible", but that it can affect anyone - both the calm and the hardworking, the hardworking and the responsible, the strong and the weak. The loan sharks are just waiting for a moment of weakness.

This is confirmed by the results of the survey, according to which 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 an interview 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.

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...

In tomorrow's "News"Read what loan sharks do after raising awareness of the prevalence of this problem in Montenegro, as well as the confession of a family from the capital who has a problem with loan sharks...