THERE is no evidence to confirm claims that deposed Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic and his close associates have ill-gotten gains stashed away in Cyprus, the Central Bank stated yesterday.
The Central Bank’s announcement came after Germany said on Wednesday that its intelligence services had found evidence that Milosevic and his top aides had funnelled around million worth of funds to Russia, China, Lebanon, South Africa, Greece and Cyprus.
The announcement also coincided with a visit to the island by Carla del Ponte, Chief Prosecutor for the war crimes tribunal in The Hague – the body that last summer asked Cyprus to probe alleged financial dealings on the island by Milosevic and his aides.
The Central Bank said a relevant investigation had given Cyprus the all clear.
The probe focused on finding out whether five top officials of the Milosevic regime indicted by The Hague court had assets stowed away in Cypriot banks. “The Central Bank of Cyprus has ascertained that none of the persons in question has bank accounts in Cyprus,” the announcement stated.
Government Spokesman Michalis Papapetrou had issued a similar denial earlier this week following press reports about the Serbian strongman’s alleged links to Cyprus.
Del Ponte yesterday had a meeting with Justice Minister Nicos Koshis in Nicosia. Koshis stated after the meeting that he had assured Del Ponte the Cyprus government would do all it could to help secure the arrest of persons indicted by the court and would freeze any of their assets found on the island.
The war crimes prosecutor said her visit was part of a tour of countries in the region aimed at gathering information about 38 Milosevic associates on the court’s “wanted” list.
This is not the first time that Cyprus has been linked to Milosevic’s shady financial dealings.
In May last year, The Times reported on rumours that Milosevic was channelling money to South Africa via middlemen in Cyprus, Israel and other countries.
In May this year, the Cyprus Central bank revoked the licence of Beogradska bank, the oldest offshore banking company on the island. It did so saying Beogradska’s “liabilities outweighed its assets” and amid reports that strong evidence existed that Milosevic controlled the offshore bank.
According to a recent report by the German Intelligence service (BND), Milosevic and his entourage constitute an organised crime structure engaged in drug dealing, money laundering and other criminal acts.
