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☆ Ukraine isn't the only country Russia is trying to topple
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-11 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Even as Russian bombs pound Ukraine, Moscow's mercenaries and spies are busy trying to set much of the rest of the world afire. To Russia, the conventional warfare waged in Ukraine, and unconventional "gray zone" warfare waged around the world, are two sides of the same coin. Human intelligence operations are used to attempt elite capture through the offer of assistance to politicians who support Russian interests. "As the war in Ukraine protracts, Russia has an interest in creating crises further afield," said RUSI. "As a lot of Russia's unconventional operations are self-defeating, countering Russian unconventional warfare must be premised on careful, selective, and intelligence- driven targeting," the study emphasized.

Persons: —, RUSI, Vladimir Putin, Jack Watling, Oleksandr Danylyuk, Nick Reynolds, Britain —, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Putin, Ramzan Kadyrov, Kadyrov, Michael Peck Organizations: Service, Britain's Royal United Services Institute, Business, Kremlin, Soviet Union, NATO, Directorate, Staff of, Armed Forces, Getty, Russian, Central African, Wagner, GRU Expeditionary Corps, Convoy, Defense, Foreign Policy, Rutgers Univ, Twitter, LinkedIn Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Europe, Africa, Central Asia, Soviet, Montenegro, Moscow, Moldova, Russian, Britain, Ukraine protracts, Balkans, Russia's, Libya, Mali, Sudan, Central African Republic, Chechnya, Forbes

☆ Montenegro court approves extradition of 'cryptocurrency king' Do Kwon
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Do Kwon, the cryptocurrency entrepreneur, who created the failed Terra (UST) stablecoin, is taken to court in Podgorica, Montenegro, March 24, 2023. The decision will be made after Do Kwon completes serving his prison sentence for document forgery, the court said. A South Korean national, Kwon is the former CEO of South Korea-based Terraform Labs, the company behind the stablecoin TerraUSD that collapsed in May 2022, roiling cryptocurrency markets. Following Kwon's arrest, the U.S. District Court in Manhattan made public an eight-count indictment against him for securities fraud, wire fraud, commodities fraud and conspiracy. In late May, a Montenegrin court scrapped a bail of 800,000 euros for the pair, saying it could not be taken as a solid guarantee, nor their promise they would not run away once released from detention.

Persons: Kwon, Stevo, Do Kwon, Kwon ´, Han Chang, joon, Daria Sito, Mark Potter Organizations: UST, REUTERS, Rights, Police, Terraform Labs, Court, Korean, Labs, U.S, Thomson Locations: Podgorica, Montenegro, Rights SARAJEVO, South Korea, United States, U.S, Rican, Montenegrin, Dubai, Manhattan

As token prices plummeted last year, the sector saw other stunning meltdowns that put several industry moguls into authorities' crosshairs. Changpeng "CZ" ZhaoThe U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Binance and its CEO Zhao in June for allegedly operating "a web of deception." Kwon faces multiple charges of fraud in the U.S. and was arrested in Montenegro earlier this year for allegedly forging documents, authorities said. He has pleaded not guilty to U.S. fraud charges that he misled customers and artificially inflated the value of his company's proprietary crypto token. Barry SilbertSilbert is the boss of crypto group Digital Currency Group whose subsidiary Genesis Global Capital filed for bankruptcy in January.

Persons: Zhao Changpeng, Binance, Costas Baltas, Sam Bankman, Fried, he's, Zhao, Kwon, Luna, Terraform, Alex Mashinsky, Mashinsky, Barry Silbert Silbert, Letitia James, Silbert, Stephen Ehrlich Stephen Ehrlich's, Ehrlich, Justin Sun, Sun, Niket Nishant, Hannah Lang, Michelle Price, Anil D'Silva Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Zhao, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, U.S . Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Korean, Terraform Labs, Montenegrin, Mashinsky, CFTC, U.S . Federal Trade Commission, Digital Currency Group, Genesis Global Capital, New York, FTC, Tron Foundation, Thomson Locations: Athens, Greece, China, Canada, U.S, Montenegro, New York

☆ Montenegro votes in new government with Milojko Spajic prime minister
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] Members of 44th Montenegrin government pose for a family photo in front of the parliament in Podgorica, Montenegro, October 31, 2023. The new government, led by economist Milojko Spajic of the Europe Now Movement, will have 18 ministries and five deputy-prime ministers. It will include the centre-right pro-European Democrats, the pro-Serbian Socialist People's Party and five parties of the Albanian minority. Montenegro joined NATO in 2017, a year after a botched coup attempt that the then government blamed on Russian agents and Serbian nationalists. After Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year, Montenegro, unlike Serbia, joined EU sanctions against Moscow, sent aid to Ukraine and expelled a number of Russian diplomats.

Persons: Stevo, Milojko Spajic, Spajic, Andrija Mandic, Aleksandar Vasovic, Robert Birsel Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, European Union, European Democrats, Serbian Socialist People's Party, NATO, World Bank, EU, Moscow, Thomson Locations: Montenegrin, Podgorica, Montenegro, Rights PODGORICA, Europe, Serbian, Russia, Serbia, Ukraine

PODGORICA, Montenegro (AP) — Police in Montenegro said Tuesday they have launched an investigation after an underground tunnel was discovered linking an apartment building with a nearby court depot holding seized drugs and other crime evidence, officials said Tuesday. It remains unclear why the tunnel was dug, officials said, adding that nothing appeared to have been taken away. The court depot contains evidence in current cases but also large amounts of confiscated drugs, officials said. “This was a well-planned and organized action, which has been prepared for months and which resembles action movies,” said Adzic, adding that the apartment from where the underground tunnel started was leased a few months ago. The tunnel hole in the Montenegrin court building was found in a “well-hidden” place inside the depot, said the court President Boris Savic.

Persons: Filip Adzic, ”, Joaquin “ El Chapo ” Guzman, Boris Savic, “, ” Savic, Vesna Medenica Organizations: — Police, Higher, NATO, European Union Locations: PODGORICA, Montenegro, Podgorica, Montenegro's, Western Europe, Montenegrin

☆ EU aspirant Montenegro must adjust its growth strategy, says World Bank
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SARAJEVO, June 26 (Reuters) - Unless EU aspirant Montenegro adopts a new economic growth strategy that would boost productivity and human capital, its incomes will not converge with average EU levels in the next 40 years, the World Bank warned on Tuesday. The bank said that stagnant productivity growth was caused by market inefficiencies in the service sector which represents over 70% of GDP, and that Montenegro needed to remove regulatory barriers for firms to enter markets and grow. Most companies lack innovation and invest little in green technology which is needed to sustain tourism growth and develop Montenegro's comparative advantage in clean energy. In addition, Montenegro must tackle its income inequality which shrinks the pool of future skilled workers and entrepreneurs and limits its labour productivity growth potential, the bank said. "By implementing these reforms, Montenegro can expect a thriving private sector, significant job opportunities and ultimately improved wages and benefits for all its citizens," said Christopher Sheldon, World Bank Country Manager for Bosnia and Montenegro.

Persons: Christopher Sheldon, Daria Sito, Christina Fincher Organizations: World Bank, European Union, Thomson Locations: SARAJEVO, Montenegro, Bosnia

☆ How a Crypto Fugitive Upended the Politics of a Troubled Balkan Nation
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-24 | by ( Andrew Higgins | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Already notorious as an agent of market mayhem, the crypto industry has now unleashed political havoc, too, upending a critical general election in Montenegro, a troubled Balkan nation struggling to shake off the grip of organized crime and the influence of Russia. Only days before a vote on June 11, the political landscape in Montenegro was thrown into disarray by the intervention of Do Kwon, the fugitive head of a failed crypto business whose collapse last year contributed to a $2 trillion crash across the industry. In a handwritten letter sent to the authorities from the Montenegrin jail where he has been held since March, Mr. Kwon claimed that he had “a very successful investment relationship” with the leader of the Europe Now Movement, the election front-runner, and that “friends in the crypto industry” had provided campaign funding in return for pledges of “crypto-friendly policies.”Europe Now had been expected to win a decisive popular mandate in elections for a new Parliament. Its campaign mixed populist promises to raise salaries and pensions with pledges to put the country on a clear path to joining the European Union by cleansing the crime and corruption that flourished under Montenegro’s former longtime leader Milo Djukanovic.

Persons: Kwon, ”, Milo Djukanovic Organizations: Montenegrin, Mr, European Locations: Montenegro, Balkan, Russia, Europe, European Union

☆ How a Cracked Phone App Upended a Crime-Ridden Balkan State
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Andrew Higgins | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When police forces in Western Europe cracked ‌‌an encrypted phone app popular with narco-traffickers, the messages they deciphered from the Balkan nation of Montenegro provided shocking evidence of a state captured by crime. A Montenegrin police officer discussed cocaine shipments with a notorious crime boss, and the son of the head of the country’s supreme court offered to skew verdicts and help with smuggling. Another police officer sent photographs to the leader of an organized crime group to show how his police unit had roughed up members of a rival crime gang. Rumors had swirled for years of Mr. Djukanovic’s collusion with criminals, something he has always denied. “It was evident that the institutions were captured by corruption and organized crime,” Mr. Djukanovic’s successor, Jakov Milatovic, 36, said in an interview last month on his first day at work as president in Podgorica, the capital‌.

Persons: Milo Djukanovic, Europe’s, Mr, Djukanovic’s, Jakov Milatovic Locations: Western Europe, Balkan, Montenegro, Montenegrin, Podgorica

☆ Montenegro court releases crypto entrepreneur Do Kwon on bail
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BELGRADE, May 12 (Reuters) - A court in Montenegro agreed on Friday to release Do Kwon, a cryptocurrency entrepreneur charged in the U.S. with a multibillion-dollar fraud, on bail of 400,000 euros ($440,320), pending a trial on local charges. Following his arrest in Montenegro in March, the U.S. District Court in Manhattan made public an eight-count indictment against Do Kwon for securities fraud, wire fraud, commodities fraud and conspiracy. He was detained with Han Chang-joon, Terraform Labs' former finance officer, who will also be released on bail of 400,000 euros. "The court ... found that the possibility of losing the posted bail of 400,000 euros each, works sufficiently to dissuade them from any desire to flee," the statement said. Montenegrin police arrested Do Kwon and Chang-joon at Podgorica airport as they tried to board a flight to Dubai.

[1/4] A taxi waits for pedestrians at a street crossing under a pre-election billboard of candidate Jakov Milatovic in Podgorica, Montenegro, March 30, 2023. Montenegro, whose economy relies on tourism generated by its scenic mountains and seaside, ditched a state union with much larger Serbia in 2006 and declared independence. A row between lawmakers and Djukanovic over his refusal to name a new prime minister deepened the political paralysis. "I am here to lead Montenegro to success because for too long we have been led by the unsuccessful," Milatovic told a campaign rally. After the invasion of Ukraine last year, Montenegro signed up to EU sanctions against Russia.

☆ S.Korea, US seeking extradition of crypto entrepreneur Do Kwon -Montenegro
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

PODGORICA, March 29 (Reuters) - South Korea and the U.S. are seeking the extradition of Do Kwon, an international fugitive accused of a multibillion-dollar fraud, and another suspect arrested in Montenegro last week, the Montenegrin Justice Minister Marko Kovac said on Wednesday. Do Kwon, a South Korean national, is a cryptocurrency entrepreneur and former CEO of South Korea-based Terraform Labs, the company behind the stablecoin TerraUSD that collapsed in May 2022 and roiled cryptocurrency markets. A U.S. indictment announced last week charged Do Kwon, who co-founded Terraform Labs and developed the TerraUSD and Luna currencies, with two counts each of securities fraud, wire fraud, commodities fraud and conspiracy. South Korean authorities issued an arrest warrant for him last September. Kovac said the South Korean and U.S. extradition requests also called for the handover of the computers.

☆ Montenegro police arrest suspected former CEO of Terraform labs - interior minister
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

PODGORICA/SEOUL, March 23 (Reuters) - Police in Montenegro have detained a person thought to be Do Kwon, an international fugitive accused of defrauding investors in a multibillion-dollar cryptocurrency scheme, the country's interior minister said on Thursday. "The person is suspected of being one of the most wanted fugitives, South Korean national Do Kwon, a co-founder and CEO of the Singapore-based Terraform Labs," Filip Adzic, the Montenegrin interior minister wrote on Twitter. loadingSouth Korean police said a suspect thought to be Do Kwon and another person thought to be an individual named Han Chang-joon had been arrested in Montenegro. In February, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil lawsuit against Kwon and Terraform Labs in Manhattan federal court, accusing them of defrauding investors in what the regulator deemed a multibillion-dollar scheme. Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. Justice Department was investigating the 2022 collapse of the TerraUSD stablecoin and had questioned former team members of Terraform Labs, which was behind the stablecoin.

Seoul/Atlanta CNN —Interpol says a man arrested in Montenegro is Kwon Do-hyeong, also known as Do Kwon, the disgraced founder of a collapsed crypto company who is wanted in South Korea and the United States on fraud and other charges. Kwon, a South Korean national, founded the blockchain platform behind the TerraUSD stablecoin and its sister coin Luna. Kwon’s identity was confirmed through a fingerprint match, Interpol’s national central bureau in Seoul told CNN on Friday. Seoul prosecutors told CNN in December that the crypto entrepreneur was believed to be in Serbia, where he was in hiding after leaving Singapore via Dubai. Kwon has been charged with fraud and breaches of South Korea’s capital markets law.

☆ Former boxer charged with trafficking $1 billion worth of cocaine through U.S. ports
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Logan Reardon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Former heavyweight boxer Goran Gogic was charged by the U.S. Department of Justice on Monday with trafficking 22 tons of cocaine worth over $1 billion. Gogic was charged with three counts of violating the federal Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act, plus one count of conspiracy. According to prosecutors, the cocaine was transported to Europe from Colombia using American ports. U.S. Attorney Breon Peace in Brooklyn called Gogic's arrest and indictment "a resounding victory for law enforcement." Gogic was a heavyweight boxer from 2001 to 2012, compiling a 21-4-2 record in 27 career matches.

☆ Goran Gogic: Former heavyweight boxer charged with trafficking over $1 billion worth of cocaine
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Matt Foster | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Former heavyweight boxer Goran Gogic was charged with the maritime trafficking of over $1 billion worth of cocaine through US ports, the US Department of Justice said on Monday. The 43-year-old Montenegrin was arrested on Sunday night as he tried to board an international flight from Miami, the DOJ said in a news release. Gogic has been charged with one count of conspiracy to violate the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act and three counts of violating the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act, according to court documents. The DOJ says US law enforcement officers seized three shipments of cocaine. It was “one of the largest seizures of cocaine in United States history” and worth over $1 billion, the DOJ said.

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