Strategic Briefings | Media Impact
CBN News: The $28 Billion Heroin Smuggled Annually From Afghanistan-Pakistan via the Balkan Route
CBN News: The $28 Billion Heroin Smuggled Annually From Afghanistan-Pakistan via the Balkan Route
CBN News: The $28 Billion Heroin Smuggled Annually From Afghanistan-Pakistan via the Balkan Route
CBN News | "Key to Reducing Terrorism: Cut Off the Funding | America, Europe, Balkan Route and Afghanistan"
America’s Roundtable | Debra LaPrevotte — Rule of Law — The FBI Kleptocracy Program
CBN News: The $28 Billion Heroin Smuggled Annually From Afghanistan-Pakistan via the Balkan Route
CBN News: The $28 Billion Heroin Smuggled Annually From Afghanistan-Pakistan via the Balkan Route
Debra LaPrevotte, Former Senior FBI Official on the launch of the FBI’s Kleptocracy program and seizing more than $1 billion from corrupt foreign officials.
Croatia’s Judicial Independence Drops to 126th out of 141 Nations
CBN News: The $28 Billion Heroin Smuggled Annually From Afghanistan-Pakistan via the Balkan Route
New York Times | Europe Needs Help Combating the Mafia’s Influence | By Natasha Srdoc
International Report Shows EU and NATO Member Croatia Ranks Worse than Russia, Serbia and Ukraine
New York Times | Europe Needs Help Combating the Mafia’s Influence | By Natasha Srdoc
HRT | Croatia: Rijeka Mayor Obersnel, Partner to Nigeria's Money Launderer, Flagged by US
New York Times | Europe Needs Help Combating the Mafia’s Influence | By Natasha Srdoc
The Anti-Corruption Intelligence Task Force (ACITF) is a strategic initiative of International Leaders Summit dedicated to countering corruption and kleptocracy, and transnational organized crime networks, and its ties to the West’s capital cities and financial centers. countering corruption and kleptocracy
HRT | Croatia: Rijeka Mayor Obersnel, Partner to Nigeria's Money Launderer, Flagged by US
HRT | Croatia: Rijeka Mayor Obersnel, Partner to Nigeria's Money Launderer, Flagged by US
HRT | Croatia: Rijeka Mayor Obersnel, Partner to Nigeria's Money Launderer, Flagged by US
Croatia's state-run channel HRT 4, led by editor Denis Latin and journalist Petar Vlahov interviews Natasha Srdoc.
HuffPost: Draining the Swamp | America's Fake Freedom Lovers and Transnational Criminal
HRT | Croatia: Rijeka Mayor Obersnel, Partner to Nigeria's Money Launderer, Flagged by US
HRT | Croatia: Rijeka Mayor Obersnel, Partner to Nigeria's Money Launderer, Flagged by US
How much of the illicit wealth has benefited the Heritage Foundation, Mont Pelerin Society, and other “conservative” and “libertarian” think tanks including their members and employees?
Austria's Hypo Group Alpe Adria: Collapse of the Rule of Law, Europe’s Largest Banking Scandal
Wall Street Journal: Corruption in Croatia | Despite the EU's assurances, Zagreb is no role model
Austria's Hypo Group Alpe Adria: Collapse of the Rule of Law, Europe’s Largest Banking Scandal
Speaking at the Capitol Hill Rule of Law event in Washington D.C., Dr. Rainer Hable, Member of Austria’s parliament and author of a parliamentary investigative report on Hypo Group Alpe Adria Bank.
Draining the Swamp: The NATO Swamp
Wall Street Journal: Corruption in Croatia | Despite the EU's assurances, Zagreb is no role model
Austria's Hypo Group Alpe Adria: Collapse of the Rule of Law, Europe’s Largest Banking Scandal
The paradox is striking - while lobbying and whitewashing by lobbyists and think tanks, for compromised NATO members, is being defended as freedom of speech in the US, journalists in NATO Balkan member countries can get thrown in jail, beaten up and sometimes killed for exposing colossal corruption and serious national security concerns.
Wall Street Journal: Corruption in Croatia | Despite the EU's assurances, Zagreb is no role model
Wall Street Journal: Corruption in Croatia | Despite the EU's assurances, Zagreb is no role model
Wall Street Journal: Corruption in Croatia | Despite the EU's assurances, Zagreb is no role model
Instead of continuing to send cash, it might be a better idea for the EU to send judges and prosecutors who can assist in strengthening the rule of law and an independent judiciary.
EU Observer: "EU not tackling corruption in east, say justice experts"
EU Observer: "EU not tackling corruption in east, say justice experts"
Wall Street Journal: Corruption in Croatia | Despite the EU's assurances, Zagreb is no role model
"There is not enough pressure now to reform before accession to the EU and NATO. Once a country is in the EU, the chances for reforms are lost," Ms Srdoc said, demanding "international monitoring" of Croatia, as the authorities were, in her view, incapable of dealing with these challenges.
The Economist: New Thinking, Old Problems
EU Observer: "EU not tackling corruption in east, say justice experts"
BBC: Croatia cursed by crime and corruption
But we also need to address more overtly the twin legacies of communist rule: disregard for private property rights and the inheritance of institutional power by networks of corrupt government officials and their private partners in crime.
BBC: Croatia cursed by crime and corruption
EU Observer: "EU not tackling corruption in east, say justice experts"
BBC: Croatia cursed by crime and corruption
"You can see corruption with government officials and practically ministerial-level people with wealth that cannot be explained," says Natasha Srdoc.
Confronting High-Level Corruption
Croatia’s Ex-President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic Facilitates Ties to China and Russia
Mercury Shuts Down FinTech Service for Startups in Croatia, Nigeria, Ukraine with FDIC Influence
Mercury Shuts Down FinTech Service for Startups in Croatia, Nigeria, Ukraine with FDIC Influence
January 14, 2025 | Croatia’s Corrupt Politicians and the Balkan Nation’s Ex-President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic Facilitate Stronger Ties to China, Russia and Suspect Entities in the Region
America Must Hold to Account Kleptocratic Croatia — a NATO and EU member state.
Key Takeaways:
- Ex-Croatian President Grabar-Kitarovic family’s business dealings with Russian enterprises connected to the Kremlin and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle.
- Former Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic questionable engagements with Burisma and Nigeria’s oil business investments in Croatia’s football facilities.
- Grabar-Kitarovic’s financial donors include criminal fugitive Zdravko Mamic, and Croatia’s construction company GP Krk, which was reported for facilitating money laundering and at the same time blocking US investment.
- While the Trump Administration and U.S. Secretary Mike Pompeo were warning EU and NATO members about the China threat, the Croatian government and Grabar-Kitarovic brazenly courted Chinese Communist Party officials and selling Croatia as a beachhead for China’s entities.
- Croatia listed on the FATF’s money laundering and terrorism financing ‘Grey List.’
- U.S. Congressman Doug Lamborn’s official letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Croatia’s Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic raises demanded answers on blocked U.S. investments, abuse of US taxpayer funds, Russia’s malign influence, and Croatia’s placement on FATF’s ‘Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Grey List.’
- Croatia’s compromised intelligence structure and access to classified materials is a threat to NATO’s vulnerable security networks.
January 14, 2025 | Washington, DC | Croatia, a member state of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU), has long avoided close scrutiny on systemic deficiencies of the rule of law that were applied to other former communist Eastern European nations. Absent the principled pressure for real reforms and verification mechanisms, Croatia morphed into a state with kleptocratic networks whose politically exposed persons (PEPs) are protected by Croatia’s corrupt judiciary.
Mercury Shuts Down FinTech Service for Startups in Croatia, Nigeria, Ukraine with FDIC Influence
Mercury Shuts Down FinTech Service for Startups in Croatia, Nigeria, Ukraine with FDIC Influence
Mercury Shuts Down FinTech Service for Startups in Croatia, Nigeria, Ukraine with FDIC Influence
July 30, 2024 | Digital Mercury, a financial technology company which offers banking services provided by Choice Financial Group and Evolve Bank made an announcement to address concerns by the FDIC for Mercury accounts in legally risky countries including Croatia.
According to media groups including TechCrunch's news report, digital banking startup Mercury has stated that it is no longer serving U.S.-domiciled customers with business and residential addresses from certain countries, including Croatia, Nigeria, Ukraine, and other countries.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, an independent agency created by the U.S. Congress to maintain stability and public confidence in the nation's financial system, was specifically “concerned” that Choice had "opened Mercury accounts in legally risky countries.”
Croatia Placed on Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing List
In June 2024, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) took action and placed Croatia—the only EU member state at that time — on the money laundering and terrorism financing ‘Grey List’ of countries under increased monitoring by the international watchdog.
“The addition of Croatia to the FATF “grey list” should be the stimulus needed to increase scrutiny of the illicit money and assets flowing to and —through Croatia,” said Debra LaPrevotte, retired Supervisory Special Agent, Federal Bureau of Investigation, International Corruption Unit, FBI-HQ. “Croatia remains mired in corruption and has welcomed money from Russia and other countries into their real estate sector, while providing safe haven for the yachts of Russian and Ukrainian oligarchs. Perhaps it’s time for Croatia to be the focus of asset recovery investigations in the Balkans.”
U.S. Congressman Doug Lamborn Sends Letter to Croatia’s Prime Minister Plenkovic on Corruption
Mercury Shuts Down FinTech Service for Startups in Croatia, Nigeria, Ukraine with FDIC Influence
Billion Dollar Corruption: Croatia's Scheme To Buy 30-Year-Old American Fighter Jets from Israel
U.S. Congressman Doug Lamborn Sends Letter to Croatia’s Prime Minister Plenkovic | Official Letter Demands Answers on Blocked U.S. Investments, Abuse of US Taxpayer Funds, Russia’s Malign Influence, and Croatia’s Placement on FATF’s ‘Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Grey List’
Croatia’s legacy of corruption comes under the spotlight | Balkan state blocks U.S. investments, morphs into a money laundering hub within the European Union, and maintains Russian influence in the economy.
Billion Dollar Corruption: Croatia's Scheme To Buy 30-Year-Old American Fighter Jets from Israel
Billion Dollar Corruption: Croatia's Scheme To Buy 30-Year-Old American Fighter Jets from Israel
Billion Dollar Corruption: Croatia's Scheme To Buy 30-Year-Old American Fighter Jets from Israel
First published in The Western Journal: "If America and NATO allow failed nations, such as Croatia, to join the alliance, there should be a mechanism through a U.S. congressional committee to monitor transparency and ensure a level playing field for the military bidding process. Croatia’s symbiotic relationship between transnational organized crime and government corruption has to be eradicated with the help of visiting judges and prosecutors from strong rule of law nations who can assist in establishing the rule of law and independent judiciary."
The Financial Times: Europe: Higher aspirations | Croatia is feeling the heat over corruption
Billion Dollar Corruption: Croatia's Scheme To Buy 30-Year-Old American Fighter Jets from Israel
The Financial Times: Europe: Higher aspirations | Croatia is feeling the heat over corruption
Quote from The Financial Times |
Critics question whether Uskok can ever nail the most powerful politicians, whose patronage shelters lower-level offenders. “Over 20 past and present HDZ cabinet officials have accumulated vast amounts of [unexplained] wealth,” says Joel Anand Samy at the Adriatic Institute for Public Policy, a US-Croatian think-tank critical of the HDZ. “Yet they and several thousand of their partners in crime remain free, without any investigations or charges.” He says Brussels must “resist Croatia’s charm offensive” and should demand more than “paltry” reforms.
All ex-communist eastern Europe, with its imperfect transition to capitalism, suffers from corruption but the problem seems more deep-rooted in the Balkans. Indeed, Croatia is a beacon by regional standards, as the cleanest Balkan state in TI’s table of corruption perceptions – outperforming Greece, an EU member for nearly 30 years. But the EU wants Zagreb to do better and to set a higher standard for future members.
In former Yugoslavia, criminal gangs and corrupt officials alike had much freedom during the civil wars of the 1990s, when governments turned a blind eye to illegal arms trading. The traders, security agents and politicians involved later diversified into other businesses – some legitimate, some not.
