Montenegro has been temporarily blocking more money and property, and the measures reach vehicles as well as land, homes, wristwatches and cash. Lasting confiscation has stayed limited.
The Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office says that from the start of the year to mid-July prosecutors filed nine proposals in seven cases for temporary asset security. Courts adopted two, rejected none and had yet to decide the rest.
A CeMI study of financial investigations from 2023 to 2025 calls temporary blocking of money the clearest result. Funds blocked in Special State Prosecutor’s Office cases rose from €6.18 million in 2023 to more than €69 million in 2025, more than elevenfold in two years. In that period the office filed five requests for permanent confiscation. One request from 2025 covered two passenger vehicles and real estate. On a 2024 request, the Higher Court in Podgorica permanently confiscated a Mercedes-Benz S600 passenger car.
In early October the Special State Prosecutor’s Office filed further requests, still awaiting a decision by the Higher Court in Podgorica. For Radoje Zvicer it seeks at least 54,567 square metres of real estate in Podgorica, Kotor, Herceg Novi and Tivat, plus expensive armoured vehicles. For Milan Vujotić it seeks at least 19,131 square metres in Podgorica and Nikšić and one armoured vehicle. For Slobodan Kašćelan, Igor Božović and Dragan Knežević it seeks at least 10,399 square metres of property. The requests followed final convictions, so they do not show the newer route to confiscation before a final criminal judgment.
A recently adopted law on confiscation of assets gained through crime is meant to speed permanent seizure linked to organised crime, in set cases before a final conviction. Where the case concerns a criminal association or organisation, a benefit worth at least €50,000 can be permanently confiscated after the indictment is confirmed, or after a main hearing is scheduled in summary proceedings. The court must find an obvious gap between the property’s value and the owner’s lawful income, and the owner must fail to make a lawful origin probable. A confirmed indictment does not confiscate anything by itself. The court decides, and the owner may show that the property was lawfully obtained.
That confiscation case runs separately from the criminal case. An acquittal, a rejection or a decision to stop the prosecution does not affect the confiscation proceedings or the decision to keep the property. The Ministry of Justice says the model leaves the presumption of innocence, the right to a fair trial and the right to property intact, because the court rules on the origin of a specific gain and on the holder’s guilt. The holder and third parties may put evidence before the court.
The new rules will miss many cases already under way. Confiscation proceedings already opened continue under the earlier law, and so does an appeal if a first-instance decision exists. If that decision is quashed and the case returns for a new decision, the new law applies. Financial investigations started before the new law takes effect finish under the old law, while any later permanent-confiscation case is conducted under the new one. The Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office did not tell reporters which large ongoing cases could fall under the new regime.
The Property Administration had not, by the time of publication, answered questions on the use of temporarily seized vehicles and real estate, storage and maintenance costs, loss of value, return, compensation and management capacity. The law requires seized property to be managed with the care of a good owner, keeping as much value as possible at the lowest cost. Temporarily seized assets may be leased or entrusted to a manager, and rental income goes to management and upkeep. Movable property may be sold before a final decision if those costs far exceed its value or it risks decay. Real estate may be sold on similar terms with the court’s consent.
Experts say stricter rules will yield more lasting seizures only if financial investigations quickly identify assets, real owners, related people, lawful income and money flows. In the Special State Prosecutor’s Office, 11 of 16 posts for financial analysts are filled, and the Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office says too few economic and financial advisers want the work. Police say officers still lack direct electronic access to every register that matters, including real-estate records, the tax authority, financial and payment institutions, notarial records and vessel registers. The law also covers digital assets and crypto-assets, and it can reach family members and third parties who knew, could have known, or were obliged to know that a transfer was meant to avoid confiscation.