In cooperation with the UK police, Belgrade police arrested six people suspected of forming a criminal group that invested in real estate with funds obtained through criminal activities that allegedly involved stealing from the UK’s Frank Lampard and Tamara Ecclestone, though state authorities are still unable to locate two suspects who have fled the country.
Following a preliminary investigation, Belgrade police arrested six persons based on an order issued by the State Prosecutor’s Office for Organised Crime, and in coordination with SBPOK and UK police.
The six are suspected of committing a crime as part of a joint criminal enterprise and money laundering, the Organised Crime Prosecutor’s Office announced in a press release.
However, according to the same press release, two of the suspects are currently outside Serbia and cannot be located by state authorities.
The organised crime group, formed between 2 February 2018 and 15 December 2023, is alleged to have established an organised crime group in Serbia and invested money obtained from criminal activities in the purchase of real estate, thus introducing it into legal financial flows.
According to the statement, it is suspected that the investment of assets derived from the criminal activities of one of the suspects in Switzerland, as well as the criminal activities of another in the UK, involved breaking into a significant number of properties in these two countries owned by wealthy individuals.
The suspect facing criminal proceedings in the UK is suspected of obtaining a total of £26 million from Chelsea Manager and former footballer Frank Lampard, the late Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha (former owner of FK “Lester”), Tamara Ecclestone and her husband Jay Rutland.
The two are also suspected of having provided money obtained through criminal activities to other members of this organised criminal group, who then invested it in the purchase of a high-value real estate in Serbia, as well as luxurious passenger cars while attempting to integrate the illegally obtained funds into legal financial flows.
The investigation, led by the Prosecutor’s Office for Organised Crime and the SBPOK, was conducted in coordination with the UK’s Metropolitan Police and its National Crime Agency.
As mentioned in the press release, searches are currently being carried out in various locations in Serbia.
The Prosecutor’s Office for Organised Crime immediately froze accounts, properties suspected to have been acquired through criminal activities and high-value vehicles.
The suspects are in police custody and will be brought to the Organised Crime Prosecution Office for questioning after being charged, the statement concluded.
(Euractiv.rs | Jelena Nikolić)
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