Žarko Jovan Veselinović
Zharko Veselinovic (Zharko) is a leader in the Zvonko Veselinovic Organized Crime Group (OCG) with his brother Zvonko Veselinovic (Veselinovic). The Veselinovic OCG is alleged to have established a bribery scheme with Kosovar and Serbian security officials who facilitate the group’s illicit trafficking of goods, money, narcotics, and weapons between Kosovo and Serbia. The group allegedly conspired with various politicians in several quid pro quo agreements, including the bribery of Kosovar security officials to allow their smuggling operations between Serbia and Kosovo in early 2019 and the bribery of Kosovar border security officials to allow safe passage for smugglers in late 2017. It is believed that in 2017, Zharko and his brother Veselinovic had agreements with politicians to help their party win elections, secure political victories for their candidates, and contribute large sums of money to candidates. In return, these politicians would grant the brothers control of certain areas for their businesses where they could conduct their illicit business activities without interference by Serbian authorities and provided proprietary business information to support the brothers’ business investments. The politicians rewarded the Veselinovic brothers by working to grant the brothers the best infrastructure contracts. As of 2017, it is believed that the brothers used political donations as a method of laundering money that originated from their criminal enterprise. [1]
Information
| IDENTIFYING INFORMATION | A leader of the Zvonko Veselinovic Organized Crime Group |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 23.02.1985 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Kosovo |
| NATIONALITY | Kosovo ; Serbia |
| COUNTRY OF RESIDENCE | Kosovo |
| FULL NAME | Zharko Jovan Veselinovic |
| ALIASES | Zarko Veselinovic |
| FAMILY MEMBERS | Zvonko Veselinovic - brother Dušica Maksimović - sister |
| FAMILY MEMBERS SUBJECT TO SANCTIONS | Zvonko Veselinovic - brother [1] |
| SUSPECTED OR CONFIRMED LINKS TO LEGAL ENTITIES | Zarko Veselinovic B.I., S.T.R. Kristal; Nautikacentar D. O. O. [1] Inkop DOO Cuprija; Betonjerka DOO Aleksinac; Dolly Bell DOO Beograd-Novi Beograd; Novi Pazar-Put D.O.O. Novi Pazar [2] |
| ESTIMATES OF ASSETS FROZEN OR CONFISCATED | Unknown |
| ESTIMATES OF ASSETS RETURNED | None |
| SANCTIONS IMPOSED | US Global Magnitsky Sanctions. [1] |
| START OF SANCTIONS | 12.08.2021 [1] |