Report focuses on Milosevic cash

BERLIN, Germany (Reuters) -- Germany has confirmed that it has intelligence on ousted Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic's financial holdings abroad, but is unable to pinpoint where he stashed his money.

Reuters obtained a copy of a German intelligence agency report on Monday that said Milosevic and his associates were criminals who have stashed more than $100 million in ill-gotten funds in foreign countries.

"We still do not know where the money is parked," Deputy Foreign Minister Gunter Pleuger told InfoRadio Berlin-Brandenburg, acknowledging the existence of the report.

In the report, the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) said Milosevic's private financial empire extended to Russia, China, Cyprus, Greece, Lebanon and South Africa.

In Switzerland alone, the agency estimated holdings at $100 million.

"If such accounts are really found, then they will be confiscated," Pleuger said.

Officials reporting to new President Vojislav Kostunica have said they may make efforts to seek the millions Milosevic and his backers are believed to have diverted abroad.

"Considerable evidence indicates Milosevic and his entourage constitute an OC (organised crime) structure and are engaged in drug dealing, money laundering and other criminal acts," an internal executive summary of the report said.

"The suspected amount of the Milosevic assets, although most are not verifiable individually, could hardly have been legally obtained during that timeframe," the report said. "Estimates speak of at least three-digit millions of U.S. dollars."

The report said those involved in the financial dealings included his brother Borislav Milosevic, Yugoslavia's ambassador to Moscow, wife Mirjana Markovic and son Marko, who fled the country after his father was toppled. It said Marko was especially involved in cigarette and tobacco smuggling.

Slobodan Milosevic: Nationalist and leader

Ambition and wealth: The family behind Milosevic

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.