Greenfield's property in Montenegro was confiscated

By order of the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT), the High Court in Podgorica blocked the property in mid-December Michael David Greenfield and the legal entity "PM Residence" and other related physical and legal entities.

They did this because of the suspicion of the criminal offense of money laundering.

The decision on the temporary measure of securing this property was published by the High Court in the Official Gazette.

In March, a court in Tel Aviv convicted American-Israeli citizen Michael Ben-Ari, also known under the false identity of Michael David Greenfield, for creating and managing a Ponzi scheme that defrauded him of $150 million, which is also considered the largest fraud ever committed. in Israel. According to the Israeli media, Greenfield, as part of the settlement agreement accepted by the court, pleaded guilty to the charges - for serious fraud, falsification of documents and money laundering.

A Ponzi scheme usually offers investors high returns, using the money of new investors to pay off old debts.

Ben Ari or Greenfield was also a business partner with a Montenegrin businessman Veselin Pejović, about which "Vijesti" wrote several times. He invested part of that money acquired through criminal activities in companies in Montenegro, as well as in Veselin Pejović's Uniprom group.

The decision of the High Court states that in accordance with the Law on Confiscation of Assets Gained Through Criminal Activity, a ban is introduced on the disposal (alienation and encumbrance) of an apartment in Tivat of 135 square meters with a garage of 13 square meters owned by Greenfield, then a garage space of 13 square meters in the building in Tivat and an apartment of 100 square meters in Tivat whose buyer is the company "PM Residence", then the land next to the building.

"Prohibition of disposal (alienation and encumbrance) of immovable property with recording of the ban in the immovable cadastre from 61.19 para. 1 point. 2 of the Act on confiscation of the proceeds of crime of the following immovable property in the custodial account at Erste Bank owned by Michael David Greenfield, confiscate the property (things) located in the safe at Zapad Bank leased by Michael David Greenfield, in the account at Hipotekarna Bank, prohibition of alienation and encumbrance of shares or shares in a business company, with the entry of a ban in public records," the High Court's decision reads.

Furthermore, the prohibition of alienation and encumbrance in the legal entity "Uniprom White Bauxite" from Nikšić with a registered capital of 281.056,20 euros, and in the legal entity "Uniprom Bentonite" from Podgorica with a registered capital of 300.000 euros.

"Temporary security measure and temporary confiscation of movable property can last at most until the finality of the decision on permanent confiscation of property benefits acquired through criminal activity. The temporary measure and the temporary confiscation of movable property will be abolished ex officio if the indictment does not enter into legal force within two years from the date of the decision on the determination of the temporary measure of security and temporary confiscation of movable property," the decision of the High Court states.

A businessman Veselin Pejović and his companies, according to previous judgments of the Israeli courts, which the News has access to, owe the Israeli liquidation manager Lior Dagan (the liquidation manager of Ben Ari's assets and the EGFE corporation) 14,1 million euros. Those judgments were confirmed by the Montenegrin Commercial Court.

This is the money that was determined in the court proceedings that Pejović or his companies received from Michael David Greenfield, who was convicted in Israel of organizing a Ponzi scheme through which he defrauded more than a thousand investors, mostly from Israel and the United States, for about 200 million euros. American States.

Dagan was appointed by the Israeli and American courts to freeze, dispose and recover all assets of Greenfield, his companies that are the fruit of the criminal enterprise, in order to return the money to investors and creditors.

Uniprom previously announced that Greenfield was their partner, but that they have not done business since they learned that he participated in fraudulent activities. Pejović challenged the jurisdiction before the courts in Israel.

In July 2023, Dagan's legal team filed a criminal complaint against the "unknown perpetrator" who forged the signature of the executive director of the company "Uniprom White Bauxite". Zlatan Halilović on the statement of open items, which acknowledges the disputed debt to "Uniprom metals" in the amount of 363 thousand euros.

The temporary measure and the temporary confiscation of movable property will be abolished ex officio if the indictment does not enter into legal force within two years from the date of the decision on the determination of the temporary measure of security and temporary confiscation of movable property," the decision of the High Court states.