Šuković’s „102,000 reasons“ for denying access to his bank accounts

Do as you wish, but not for as long as you wish.

It is as if Predrag Šuković, head of the Special Police Department, wanted to send exactly that message when - while reporting his income and assets to the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption - he denied access to his bank accounts.

In doing so, Šuković continued the practice from previous reports. At the same time, he acted in line with his counterparts from the Special State Prosecutor’s Office. The ban on access to accounts was also imposed by Chief Special Prosecutor Vladimir Novović, his deputy Miloš Šoškić and SSPO spokesperson Vukas Radonjić.

IMPRESSIVE SAVINGS AND…

According to the report he submitted on March 22, Predrag Šuković has substantial savings.

The head of the Special Police Department reported 102,000 euros in cash. In the previous year, Šuković earned 35,464 euros from his salary at the SPD, plus an additional 1,980 euros from his membership in the Commission for Monitoring the Actions of Competent Authorities in investigations of threats and violence against journalists, the murder of journalists, and attacks on media property.

As for real estate, Šuković reported a 144-square-meter house and a 32-square-meter garage, both inherited in 2010, while his wife, Biljana Šuković, owns a 98-square-meter apartment in Budva.

It is notable that the latest report does not include an apartment valued at 70,000 euros. This apartment had appeared in Šuković’s reports from 2019 through 2024 under the unusual category „other movable assets“.

…DISAPPEARANCE OF „OTHER MOVABLE ASSETS“

Why the apartment listed as so-called „movable assets“ disappeared cannot be determined from the reports submitted to the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption.

It is also unclear how 98,500 euros in cash appeared in Šuković’s 2025 report, only for the amount of savings to increase to 102,000 euros in cash the following year.

The Special State Prosecutor’s Office has not investigated the origin of Šuković’s assets, even in the case of a criminal complaint filed on February 9, 2025, by then Minister of Justice Andrej Milović, concerning the purchase of an apartment in Budva in the name of Biljana Šuković, the SPD chief’s wife.

CRIMINAL COMPLAINT BY ANDREJ MILOVIĆ

On September 1, 2020, Biljana Šuković purchased a 58-square-meter apartment in Budva from the company Grupa 219 for 60,000 euros. Two years later, on December 28, 2022, she sold the same apartment to Russian national Mikhail Maslenikov for as much as 140,000 euros. In cash!

On the very same day, just one hour later, she purchased a 98-square-meter apartment in the same building, also owned by Grupa 219, for 135,000 euros.

The criminal complaint alleges that Šuković committed the criminal offense of money laundering under Article 268 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Special State Prosecutor’s Office.

That is not all. Citing operational data, Minister Milović stated that the deal was concluded with Šuković’s godfather, Radovan Rašo Perović.

CONNECTIONS WITH ORGANIZED CRIME

Perović was arrested in October 2023 on suspicion of being a member of a criminal organization.

The name of Radovan Perović appears in an order to conduct an investigation by the Special State Prosecutor’s Office into a group allegedly involved in cocaine smuggling from Ecuador. The same group includes Milo Božović, former mayor of Budva and a member of parliament from New Serbian Democracy.

While Božović was a member of the parliamentary Security Committee, his special, confidential adviser was none other than Predrag Šuković. This became evident after lawyer Miroje Jovanović published written advice that Šuković had given Božović in the so-called „Blue Notebook“.

„BLUE NOTEBOOK“ AND LINKS TO IVAN DELIĆ

Šuković’s role as an adviser to the arrested New Serbian Democracy official was confirmed by Milo Božović himself.

- He was my consultant. Before that I had never dealt with security matters. I have the „blue notebook“ that my lawyer provided you, which contains both my handwriting and Šuković’s. He explained to me who is who in the police and who belongs to whom - Božović said during questioning at the Special State Prosecutor’s Office.

Allegations about Šuković’s links to organized crime were also recently raised by former Assistant Director of the Police Directorate Dejan Knežević during testimony before the High Court in Podgorica.

Knežević claimed that Šuković compromised the police badge by cooperating with Ivan Delić, a figure from the world of organized crime.

- Predrag Šuković regularly visited Ivan Delić at his home in Budva. For that reason, I opposed his appointment to one of the police sectors at the time - Knežević told the High Court.

SILENCE OF NOVOVIĆ’S SSPO

This statement also failed to attract the interest of the Special State Prosecutor’s Office, just like the criminal complaint filed by Andrej Milović against Predrag Šuković, which was dismissed, even though the former Minister of Justice claimed that Šuković and his wife had failed to pay capital gains tax after earning 80,000 euros in cash from the apartment sale in Budva.

It is therefore difficult to believe that the prosecutor’s office headed by Vladimir Novović will suddenly change its practice and begin investigating the origin of the money and assets of the head of the Special Police Department.