Zlatibor hotels, restaurants and resorts are now in the hands of the Mafia

money laundering activities by tycoons and crime bosses have found a home in Zlatibor and similar resort towns. It is a public secret that hotels, restaurants and resorts are now in the hands of the Mafia, even though documents pertaining to the businesses and properties are all in other people's names, the daily writes.
This is not only a common occurrence in Zlatibor, but in Subotica, Palić, Vrnjačka Banja, Kopaonik, Novi Sad and Belgrade. However it seems that the highest concentration of “dirty money” can be found in the beautiful mountain resorts of Zlatibor. It is not only Serbian criminals that are working in Zlatibor, but crime bosses from Montenegro and the Republic of Srpska too, the daily writes.
“Once upon a time they caused problems. Now they have changed into suits and are acting like businessmen, but they always get their jobs done the old-fashioned way, either illegally or on the edge of the law,” the daily states. In 2007, Milan Stamatović, president of the Čajetina municipality, called on the state institutions to deal with the problem, and for police in the region to receive technical and personnel support because of “the increased presence of the construction mafia and criminals.”

“Zlatibor has been occupied by the construction mafia, which is legalizing dirty money through the purchase of property and the construction of buildings, especially apartments,” Stamatović wrote in his letter to the institutions.

“Criminals from Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina congregate here…They take out their guns in night clubs, consume and sell drugs, and club owners are afraid for their own safety,” he stated.