Ex-Customs Chief, a Close Milosevic Ally, Arrested on Charges of Corruption
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BELGRADE, Yugoslavia — Serbian police Friday arrested a close ally of deposed President Slobodan Milosevic on charges of embezzlement and abuse of authority.
Former customs chief Mihalj Kertes is the highest-ranking Milosevic official to be arrested by new Yugoslav authorities. He is accused of embezzling $2 million and $700,000 in separate cases, the Interior Ministry said.
Kertes’ trial could help clarify allegations that Milosevic and his top aides were involved in crime and corruption.
Kertes was close to Milosevic and even acted as his personal advisor. He was Milosevic’s top security official in the early 1990s, entrusted with arming rebel Serbs in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina before bloody ethnic wars there.
He also organized pro-Milosevic rallies in Kosovo, a province of Serbia, Yugoslavia’s main republic.
Milosevic was forced out of power in October after a disputed election and an uprising by supporters of President Vojislav Kostunica.
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