Alta Banka owner faces arrest after RSD45bn unauthorized withdrawal

The Alta Banka Collapse

Davor Macura, the owner of Alta banka through Alta Group, faced arrest on November 2 alongside two bank officials for allegedly withdrawing RSD45bn (€383mn) from the lender’s vault without authorization. The National Bank of Serbia revoked the bank’s license on October 30 after the lender’s financial position deteriorated and clients withdrew millions in deposits, which the regulator noted put the interests of depositors at risk. The alleged theft equals roughly one fifth of the bank’s RSD215bn (€1.83bn) in assets from July. The prosecution suspects the head of treasury and cash management and a treasury associate provided Macura with access cards or used their own cards to enable unauthorized entries. In North Macedonia, central bank governor Trajko Slaveski placed Alta Bank AD Bitola under temporary administration on Sunday after clients withdrew around 2 million euros within a few days.

The Alta scandal demonstrates how quickly politically connected lenders can collapse after rapid expansion and unauthorized withdrawals. The Student List called Alta the "tip of the corrupt octopus" and urged banks to monitor potential capital flight during the political transition. This follows the October 25 general election where the Student List defeated the Serbian Progressive Party after 14 years in power. Macura, described by Serbian media as close to the SNS, saw his bank expand while the party held power. In 2025, the state-owned electricity company, Elektroprivreda Srbije, changed payment arrangements to direct Belgrade residents to pay bills into Alta Bank accounts.

Historical Regional Frauds

The 2014 banking fraud in Moldova siphoned $1bn from Banca de Economii, Banca Sociala, and Unibank through loans to companies that failed to repay them. The central bank covered the shortfall with government-guaranteed loans, which the think tank Expert Grup estimated at 12% of GDP. Ilan Shor, who chaired Banca de Economii, received a 15-year prison sentence in 2023 and remains a fugitive abroad. Former Democratic Party leader Vladimir Plahotniuc received a 19-year sentence on April 22 after his 2025 extradition from Greece.

Bulgaria’s KTB collapsed in June 2014, leading to a BGN3.75bn (€1.92bn) capital shortfall and a license revocation in November. Majority owner Tsvetan Vassilev remains in Serbia after receiving political asylum in 2022, despite a fresh European arrest warrant issued in 2024.

Mostar-based Hercegovacka Banka faced provisional administration in April 2001 after administrator Toby Robinson reported the disappearance of BAM216mn (€110mn) in capital. In 2005, Ante Jelavic received a 10-year sentence at first instance over the embezzlement of Croatian aid that was channelled through the bank. State authorities in Montenegro provided a €44mn loan to Prva Banka in December 2008 to prevent its collapse. Businessman Dusko Knezevic also faced accusations of leading a criminal group that laundered €500mn through Atlas Banka, though he denied the allegations from London. Bobar Banka went bankrupt in 2014, and a court confirmed charges against 16 people in 2017 over the diversion of BAM122.5mn (€63mn) that hit state institutions and pension funds.

Internal Thefts and Trading Losses

Albania recorded the theft of €5.1mn from the Bank of Albania’s vault in 2014. Employee Ardian Bitraj confessed to smuggling banknotes in his clothes and received a 13-year prison sentence. Prosecutors also suspect Micro Credit Albania extracted €36.8mn from 30,000 people through abusive fees, and the special prosecution sent 16 people and four companies to trial in July 2025.

In Croatia, Rijecka Banka lost $97.3mn through currency trading errors between 1998 and 2002, leading to the arrest of chief currency trader Eduard Nodilo. Austria nationalized Hypo Alpe Adria in December 2009 after its rapid expansion across the Balkans. Former Croatian prime minister Ivo Sanader received two convictions for receiving a €480,000 commission from the bank in 1994, though he received an acquittal in a 2022 retrial. Hypo’s Balkan operations were sold to Advent and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in 2015.