On suggestion of Special State Prosecution, High Court in Podgorica froze the property of company Beppler & Jacobson Montenegro and its hotels Avala in Budva and Bjanka in Kolasin, Weekend Edition of Dnevne Novine daily learns.
Temporary property freeze was requested in an investigation started in April on suspicions that these two Montenegrin hotels received investments of dubious origin through companies in Panama.
Special Prosecution stated that they have submitted a request with the High Court in Podgorica to ensure temporary measures of security – ban of disposal (alienation and burden) of the immovables, ownership of Beppler & Jacobson Montenegro.
Based on the investigation, it is believed that the money was laundered through Swiss banks before it came to the account of Beppler & Jacobson Montenegro in one of Montenegrin commercial banks.
Svetlana Lazurenko is noted as one of the owners of the companies in question registered in Panama. She is a wife of businessman Igor Lazurenko.
According to the evidence VN has, the largest amount of money Beppler & Jacobson received came from the account of their mother company Beppler & Jacobson LTD, and a company from Panama Luburia Invest. Payments were made through Swiss banks UBS AG and Clariden Leu.
Weekend Edition of Dnevne Novine daily recently wrote that the suspicious privatization came to light after a conflict between former co-owners of Beppler & Jacobson Zoran Coca Becirovic and Igor Lazurenko, that was handled in London.
This process could not prove the origin of the money used to buy two Montenegrin hotels. During the trial, it was proved that Lazurenko defrauded Becirovic claiming that the money he invested in Montenegro was that of businessman German Han, while he was actually representing Kolomojski.
When the court process in London was nearing its end, Investigative Committee of Russia got involved, and the results are still not known. In the meantime, Becirovic received payments.
