Slovenia’s former anti-money laundering czar suspected of abuse of office

Slovenian police have charged former Anti-Money Laundering Agency director Damjan Žugelj and his closest associates with abuse of office in what some media are calling an unjustified crackdown on opponents of former prime minister Janez Janša.

The Office for Money Laundering Prevention launched one of the biggest investigations of bank accounts ever in 2021 based on an anonymous letter. At the time, it was headed by Žugelj, who had held several senior positions in Janša’s governments.

In less than three weeks, it sent 238 requests to banks to look into 195 bank accounts of 107 individuals and companies, including journalists and media owners.

According to investigative portal Necenzurirano, while in office, Janša struck a deal with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić ahead of last year’s parliamentary elections.

While he is said to have been interested in his then-rival and now Prime Minister Robert Golob and the company he ran at the time, the Balkan company Gen-I, Vučić was allegedly interested in the dealings of Serbian opposition leader Dragan Đilas and Dragan Šolak, the Serbian owner of N1’s parent company United and telecoms operator Telemach – reports Janša has so far rejected, calling them “absurd insinuations”.

In May, Žugelj completely denied that the probe was in any way an investigation into the owners of media houses and said that the aim of “such false accusations and the initiation of proceedings at the request of the media” was to discredit him.

If the allegations are true, it would be one of the most serious cases in the country’s history of official institutions being used for partisan political purposes to influence the outcome of elections, according to Golob.

Whether Žugelj will stand trial is now in the hands of the prosecution, as it was forwarded the charges by the National Bureau of Investigation, a special unit of the criminal police that deals with the most serious cases of economic crime.

(Sebastijan R. Maček | sta.si)