Šćepanović: Security sector union leaders suspected of abuse of office causing €1.87 million in losses

Police Director Lazar Šćepanović said that four current and former presidents of trade unions representing security sector institutions are suspected of committing the criminal offence of abuse of office in commercial operations on a continuing basis.

In recent days, president of the Police Directorate Trade Union Mladen Šuškavčević, president of the National Security Agency Trade Union Dragoljub Milović, former president of the Police Academy Trade Union Žarko Mrdović and former president of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Trade Union Danilo Radunović have been arrested.

- The individuals arrested are M. Š. (55), the current president of the Police Directorate Trade Union; D. R. (70), the former president of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Trade Union; D. N. (62), the current president of the National Security Agency Trade Union, and M. Ž. (55), the former president of the Police Academy Trade Union. Between 2017 and 2025, they misused funds belonging to the Security Institutions Trade Union (SBI) that were intended to meet employees’ housing needs, causing losses of €1.875 million to the security institutions’ trade unions, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Government of Montenegro - Šćepanović said at a press conference.

Šćepanović stressed that the suspects had paid themselves more than €215,000 in various forms of various benefits.

According to him, this is a long-standing problem involving individuals whose activities had not been subject to appropriate scrutiny in previous years.

He said that a particularly aggravating circumstance in cases of this kind was the fact that the alleged unlawful activities had taken place within institutions and organisations entrusted with managing funds and protecting employees’ interests.

- Certain criminal activities continued for ten years - Šćepanović said.

He added that the criminal investigations conducted so far and the preliminary investigative measures taken had revealed a series of irregularities in the management and spending of SBI funds. There are also suspicions that money earmarked for the construction of residential buildings was used for other needs and purposes without the appropriate decisions, authorisations or approvals from the competent trade union bodies.

- An analysis of financial operations established that, from its establishment in 2014 until May 2017, the SBI had no transactions through its bank account. Between 2014 and 2020, the trade unions that were members of the SBI did not pay membership fees to the organisation. From 2020 to 2025, membership fees paid by the four trade unions accounted for only around 2.5 per cent of the SBI’s total funds, while most of its funding came from payments by the Government of Montenegro and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, earmarked exclusively for meeting employees’ housing needs. According to the investigation’s findings to date, a total of €418,467.25 was spent during the period under review on purposes unrelated to the construction of residential buildings - Šćepanović said.

Of that amount, the suspects are alleged to have paid themselves more than €215,000 in monthly and extraordinary allowances, winter assistance payments and other benefits, despite simultaneously receiving remuneration for their work in the trade unions to which they belonged.

- The remaining funds, according to the information obtained so far, were used to make payments to certain trade union members who are suspected of not having performed any work for the SBI, as well as to cover hospitality expenses, gifts, financial assistance and payments to other individuals and legal entities. These expenditures were not in line with the funds’ designated purpose, as the money had been earmarked for the construction of housing units - Šćepanović stressed.

Investigation covers construction projects in Nikšić, Žabljak and Budva

Šćepanović noted that a separate part of the investigation focused on the financing and construction of residential buildings in Nikšić, Žabljak and Budva.

The suspicion is that SBI funds, most of which originated from budget allocations intended to meet employees’ housing needs, were unlawfully transferred to the Police Directorate Trade Union and construction contractors or otherwise used contrary to their designated purpose.

- The Government of Montenegro allocated a total of €800,000 in assistance to the SBI in 2018 and 2019. In Nikšić, the disputed transfers amount to €1,254,036.64, including €217,503.48 for land preparation. In addition, €123,035 was transferred for a residential building in Žabljak, although, under SBI decisions, the money should have been paid to the construction contractor. Of that amount, €73,035 was transferred to the contractor, while €50,000 was transferred to the Police Directorate Trade Union, which subsequently spent the money on other, unauthorised purposes - Šćepanović said.

The checks also covered a building in Budva. According to the police director, the apartments allocated to beneficiaries were smaller than the sizes stipulated in the contracts, a discrepancy raised by the beneficiaries themselves. Instead of seeking compensation from the contractor for this deviation, the SBI transferred €80,000 to the Police Directorate Trade Union to compensate the beneficiaries, even though the union itself had been the investor in the building.

These transactions raise suspicions that funds intended to meet employees’ housing needs were misused.

- According to the investigative measures carried out and the information gathered so far, the Main Board and Supervisory Board of the Police Directorate Trade Union were not officially informed of these transactions or of the handling of funds intended for residential construction, even though, under the union’s statute, these bodies had a role in decision-making and oversight of financial operations - Šćepanović emphasised.

Starting point for a more in-depth analysis

He said this was only the first phase of the investigation, or a starting point for a further, more in-depth and comprehensive analysis of financial operations and the expansion of investigative activities to other trade union organisations.

- In cooperation with the competent prosecutor’s office, we will continue to examine all financial flows, documentation and transactions, and identify all individuals found to have potentially been connected to the alleged irregularities - Šćepanović stressed.

He said that money honestly earned by police officers and other security sector employees must be used to improve their standard of living and meet their housing needs.

- Particularly given that a significant number of our colleagues still do not have their housing situation resolved and that some spend part of their salaries on rent, we will not allow this money to become the subject of anyone’s abuse or a means of obtaining personal gain. Today, we are sending a clear message that we will not allow employees to remain unprotected or allow individuals such as these to represent our security institutions. We will therefore focus our efforts on fully establishing all the circumstances surrounding the abuse, irregularities and unlawful handling of funds within trade union operations, determining responsibility and working with the competent authorities to ensure that justice is served - the Police Directorate director concluded.

At today’s press conference, Šćepanović did not comment on the operation in which Russian nationals Mikhail and Valeria Zvinchuk were arrested. The media have identified the pair as leaders of the Russian network „Rybar“.