Two sisters from Podgorica came to the aid of Tuzanin and his son when they were in a financial crunch to save a valuable vineyard. After almost two years, the case reached an epilogue - the single mothers seized their land worth a million euros on account of overdue usurious interest, the injured family claims.
"Vijesti" has insight into the lawsuit filed by a Tuzan resident AS (51) and his son RS against MD i SV which seeks the nullity of the loan agreement and all legal transactions derived from it, as well as the return of property and compensation for damages...
The 51-year-old told "Vijesti" that in mid-2021 they fell into a crisis and sought financial assistance, but that it soon turned into a nightmare, stating that he filed a criminal complaint and also a lawsuit with the Basic Court in Podgorica.
He also explained how he came into contact with the loan sharks five years ago, at a time when his family was in an extremely difficult financial situation, burdened with existential problems and accumulated expenses, which, as he says, threatened to jeopardize their basic life security.
Due to his state of emergency and financial vulnerability, he reportedly complained to his cousin. AS whom he asked to help him find a solution, and who, he claims, connected him to MD, explaining to him that she was lending money...
"We met at the 'S' restaurant at the exit from Podgorica towards Danilovgrad. That's where we agreed to lend me 40.000 euros, with a monthly interest of four percent. The loan was subsequently increased by 10.000 euros, so that the total principal was 50.000 euros. The contract and pledge statement were signed on June 30, 2021, and a pledge on a plot of land measuring about 15.000 square meters was established as a means of security... Even then, there was a drastic disproportion between the value of the property that was pledged and the amount of the debt, which shows the exploitation of our, at that moment, necessary position," said AS
The Tuzanin told "Vijesti" that they regularly paid the monthly interest - first 1.600 euros, then 2.000 euros, and that at one point it was agreed that they would pay 1.500 euros per month...
"The total amount based on paid interest is around 20.000 euros, but this did not affect the reduction of the principal... Such payment dynamics clearly indicate that the loan structure was clearly aimed at permanently generating high profits for MD, without a realistic possibility of getting out of debt slavery... As soon as we were unable to regularly service the monthly interest, she activated the lien and on December 25, 2023, transferred the ownership to herself... In doing so, she effectively took away from us the real estate whose value, according to the estimate at the public sale, was 688.500 euros... She then formally transferred ownership to her sister SV, to whom she allegedly sold the property for 80.000 euros," said Tuzanin.
They offered to buy their property.
He explains that this, as well as the fact that the usurer's lawyer MD offered to buy their property - first for 100.000, then for 85.000 euros, show that this is a fictitious deal.
"These offers represent strong evidence of the existence of an intention to obtain multiple and disproportionate benefits through the mechanisms of loans and activation of pledges. That is why I reported MD for usury, and based on that report, the Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica formed a case. We were heard in October last year and February this year. My father and I talked in detail about the circumstances under which the loan was agreed, but also everything that happened after our vineyard was stolen and destroyed," he said...
He told the journalist that he expects that institutions, when they look at the real situation, will know to appreciate that the usual obligation relationship between equal parties is not in order:
"This is a classic example of a usurious contract, concluded by exploiting necessity, difficult financial situation and the obvious inexperience of the debtor. Especially considering the disproportion between the borrowed money and the actual value of our property, which is many times more valuable. At no time did we intend to lose or have someone take away our ancestral property, for which, perhaps, two centuries ago, my ancestors died, but it has been taken away from us and now various mafia members are coming to the vineyards, whom they send and who tell us that it is theirs and that they have leased it," said AS.
Tuzanin adds that there were many unpleasant situations, and that some of the mafia members who came to the vineyard were particularly impudent.
"No one comes from Tuzi, because everyone knows that it is ours and that it was stolen from us, but others come. We live a little further from the vineyard, but whenever someone comes, they let us know. Every time someone shows up, I go to the property and tell the true story, that it is our grandfather's property, that it is worth about a million euros, that we borrowed 50.000 euros, of which we returned almost half and that it was stolen from us at that time. Many withdrew... When they were impudent and unpleasant, we reported it to the police... In October 2025, almost a year after the report, they called us to give statements. We were all at the police station - my father, me, the cousin who connected me with the loan shark... I have no answer to what happened to that report," he said.
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.
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.
The priest came to prune the vineyard
Tuzanin emphasizes that this is land that has been continuously maintained, with significant investments in raising and nurturing grapevines...
"This implies regular and professional annual cultivation - pruning, tying, protection, soil cultivation, fertilization, harvesting... The nature of a permanent plantation is such that any failure to perform regular agrotechnical cultivation inevitably leads to the decline of the vines, a decrease in yield, degradation of grape quality, and even the complete destruction of the vineyard. If the vineyard is not cultivated continuously, multi-year investments are lost, not just one-year harvest... The SV is now preventing us from approaching the vineyard and cultivating it, which is increasing the damage day by day," said AS
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He adds that once, when he was told that someone had come to the vineyard, he found a priest there.
"That was last year. I came and explained to them what I explained to everyone else - that it was our grandfather's property and that it had been taken from us, but he said that they had taken these women to maintain the vineyard and that he had brought workers for that. I did not report them, nor did I insist that they leave, because they were pruning, so it was better that it did not go to waste permanently, but that at least something be saved, if at all possible, although it was difficult, because they only pruned it and did not appear again," said Tuzanin.
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