STA, 21 December 2021 - UPDATED at 14:30
Almost 35 investigators searched private homes and offices looking for information and evidence of suspected criminal acts involving over EUR 1 million in unlawful gains. The investigation is part of a pre-trial procedure launched two years ago by the Specialised State Prosecution, the General Police Department said.

Five persons are suspected of money laundering, of whom two are also suspected of abuse or office or trust in business activity. No-one was detained for the duration of the house searches, the police said in a written statement.

Janković confirmed to the press the police investigators had searched his home and his wife's shop, the home of his son Damijan Janković and his partner Ursula Gavish, while also investigating the Electa company. According to Siol news portal, the investigation also targets the businessmen Gregor Marolt and Jan Bec.

Police was interested in his wife Mija Janković's paid bills, seized 32 bills and a phone, which Janković said could have been obtained from the bank or at the company. "To my surprise, this time they did not need me, they checked individual bills with my wife," he said at a news conference.

While saying the house searches had been carried out "correctly", Janković criticised the accusations, saying "what is written in the indictment is empty and will bring no results". He quoted his lawyer's words that "the election campaign has already started", adding he was sorry for his wife and kids, blaming it all on Prime Minister Janez Janša.

Janković did not reveal any other details, and admitted he had not had the time to read the 120 pages of accusations.

He noted the trial against him, both of his sons and Electa is continuing today over alleged dodgy deals involving retail Mercator shares and tax evasion.

He said the Financial Administration had completed a procedure which is a basis for the trial without finding any wrongdoing, so he believes that since nothing could be found against him, the authorities have now decided to target his family.

The General Police Department said the suspicion of abuse of office was related to damaging a company controlled by two persons through ownership and managerial posts, as EUR 1.24 million was transferred from it to two companies, both of which are controlled by one of these two persons.

Then, EUR 1.04 million was transferred from these two companies to several other legal and physical persons that withdrew the money in cash to conceal its origin, hence the suspicion of money laundering.

Abuse of office in business carries a prison sentence of one to eight years, whereas money laundering carries up to eight years in prison and a fine, the police said.

STA, 16 April 2021 - The head of the supervisory board of the Slovenian Press Agency (STA), Mladen Terčelj, has confirmed for the STA he was visited by investigators of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Thursday. He said he had not yet talked to the investigators and stressed he had great confidence in the rule of law and the NBI.

The police told the newspaper Dnevnik the NBI was leading a pretrial procedure based on a reported criminal offence but would not reveal any more detail because of ongoing procedure.

The General Police Administration confirmed for the paper that the investigation was thus not based merely on a government decree adopted in March.

Last month, the government proposed the supervisory board to dismiss STA director Bojan Veselinovič and tasked the Interior Ministry to examine whether the alleged violations contained elements of suspected criminal acts prosecutable ex officio and to act accordingly.

The government also called on the labour inspectorate to examine the agency and review its operations. A few days later inspectors paid a visit to the STA.

Veselinovič told the government on Monday he was granting the government access to all books of account and documents, even though the STA had never received a formal request to that effect. He said the government should say, in writing, who would access the documents on its behalf and in what way.

He noted that on Saturday 100 days had passed since the STA got paid for its public services in 2021.

STA, 19 October 2020 - The Nova Gorica Administrative Court has annulled the dismissal of former director of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI; Nacionalnega preiskovalnega urada – NPU) Darko Muženič, web portal 24ur.com reported on Monday. The case was remanded to police for re-examination. The court's decision is final, so there is no possibility of an appeal.

Muženič decided to challenge his 6 May dismissal at the Administrative Court, claiming the no-fault dismissal procedure used to dismiss him in line with the act on public servants only applied to political office holders.

Following a change in power, the then acting Police Commissioner Anton Travner replaced Muženič with Igor Lamberger, invoking provisions from the act governing the operations of the police and the act on civil servants.

The police said these provisions allowed the police commissioner to replace the NBI boss within a year since the police commissioner was appointed or within a year since the NBI director was appointed without providing any of the reasons the law stipulated for dismissal.

Muženič's lawyer Uroš Leben, however, claimed the NBI was only one of the police force's internal organisational units, meaning its director did not fall under the provisions of the public servants act, which refer to the termination of terms of public office holders, and the court upheld this view.

Leben told Večer today that the court's decision meant that Muženič's employment contract was still valid. He thinks the Interior Ministry or the police should call Muženič back to work in a few days.

"In case the ministry or police do not do that, we will have to wait for a decision of the Labour and Social Court, where Darku Muženič has filed a suit against the ministry and police over wrongful dismissal," the lawyer said.

Interior Minister Aleš Hojs commented on the court's decision at today's parliamentary session responding to a question from MP Nik Prebil from the opposition Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ). "Up to this moment, I have not been informed that there was something wrong with this procedure," he said.

"If the court issued a decision or ruling, which as you say returned Muženič to his old job, then we must first see what the court said in this ruling," he said, adding the court's decision must be studied before any "relevant responses" could be given.

"It's difficult for me to comment on what this or that web portal wrote, of course one of those that have a great interest that nothing happens at the NBI or that everything stays the way it was. Meaning that after 10 years ... the most demanding criminal acts are not being investigated," he said.

The minister assessed that the NBI had not been very successful under different heads so far, which is why the ministry plans its reorganisation.

"Given that there has been quite a few proposals that the function and status of this NBI should be defined more clearly within the organisation and work of the police act, we will approach this in the sense of amendments to this law, which we plan sometime by the end of the year," he said.

The police force told the STA today it had not received the ruling yet so it could not comment. But it noted that it honoured courts' decisions.

The NBI is currently headed by acting director Petra Grah Lazar as the third new leader of the specialised police unit for white-collar crime since May. She was appointed last week after her predecessor Uroš Lepoša stepped down less than three months on the job citing personal reasons.

Lepoša was appointed on 29 July to replace Lamberger after a similarly brief stint.

STA, 12 October 2020 - Petra Grah Lazar has been appointed the acting head of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI; Nacionalnega preiskovalnega urada – NPU) third new leader of the specialised police unit for white-collar crime since May.

Grah Lazar was appointed by acting Police Commissioner Andrej Jurič, the police said on Monday, a week after her predecessor Uroš Lepoša stepped down citing personal reasons.

Lepoša resigned after less than three months on the job. Multiple media reports suggest he resigned because the NBI's work has become subjugated to politics.

The police last week rejected the notion that he had been the target of any sort of political pressure or attempts to influence his work.

Lepoša's brief term, which came after a similarly brief stint by Igor Lamberger, has been marked by several requests for the review of the NBI's work made by the Interior Ministry, in what some insiders claim constituted political interference.

The new acting head, Grah Lazar, was an NBI investigator between December 2010 and March 2014. She came to the NBI from brokerage firm Moja Delnica, where she worked as a stock broker, the police said on its website.

She holds a PhD in business and has most recently served as a financial consulting manager at Deloitte Svetovanje, before which she was corporate security head at the Bank Assets Management Company (BAMC), the country's bad bank.

Several media have described her as the favourite of the ruling Democrats (SDS). Senior government officials, including Prime Minister Janez Janša, have spoken of the need to depoliticise the NBI.

However, the opposition parties slammed Grah Lazar's appointment today as a prime example of politicisation, or in the words of Maša Kociper of the Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB) even as "one of the most brutal appointments in the country's history".

Kociper is convinced that people do not resign after two months for personal reasons but because of political pressure, which was echoed by Matej T. Vatovec of the Left. He said the replacements were part of the search for somebody who will be fully servile to Janša and Interior Minister Aleš Hojs.

The appointment is also seen as the latest development in efforts "to subjugate the state's subsystems via appointments at oversight, repressive and other bodies" by the Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ), whose Brane Golubović would prefer to see the government focus on healthcare capacities and on building of trust for the new Covid-19 wave.

The sentiment was echoed by SocDems deputy group head Matjaž Han, who said the NBI was a key institution that needed to be completely independent of daily politics, "which is why it is definitely not good that three new people were appointed to its helm in such a short period".

Marjan Pojbič of Janša's Democrats (SDS) sees things differently, saying the appointment of Grah Lazar was needed for the NBI to "function properly and line with laws and competences".

The deputy group head of the junior coalition Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) France Jurša said he did not have enough information to say whether the move was legitimate, but he added that experience from past years showed "such things are always tied to politics".

STA, 21 August 2020 - A number of protesters gathered in Ljubljana's Prešeren Square for the traditional Friday evening protest, this time highlighting the government's oversight of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI, Nacionalnega preiskovalnega urada - NPU)). The crowd, some 3,000 by the organisers' estimate and 1,500 by the police's, accompanied the speeches whistling and shouting "villains".

"We're letting politicians know that interfering in police and their investigations is unacceptable and illegal. The government must not only stop with such actions but also resign," said Teja Jarc of the Young Plus Trade Union.

bolj nas jebete, vec nas je pic.twitter.com/HRdMc67MhA

— Roni Kordiš (@had) August 21, 2020

"This government started pursuing repression as soon as it returned from the summer break to subjugate all social sub-systems, including the police.

"Ever since this government came to power, we have been witnessing autocracy, abuse of power, subjugation of all offices, political staffing, pressure on the media and attempts to frighten all those who are against the disintegration of democracy," she said.

In their invitation to today's protest, the organisers announced that they intended to insist on protests "as long as necessary".

"We won't go along fearmongering, we are not afraid. On the contrary, we had been eagerly waiting for them to return from their villas and swimming pools so that their political houses made of cards will finally crush," they wrote.

People of all ages could be seen at the protest, with half of them wearing face masks. A big banner letting the government know We Are Waiting For You! could be seen.

Following the speeches in Prešeren Square, the protesters proceeded towards the Government Palace in Gregorčičeva Street, where they had more speeches.

Ljubjana police seized a banner with what it termed inadequate content, and established one violation of the law on public assembly and another of public law and order.

All our stories on the NBI and Slovenia, and those on various protests in the country

STA, 6 May 2020 - Acting Police Commissioner Anton Travner dismissed National Bureau of Investigation (NBI, Nacionalnega preiskovalnega urada) director Darko Muženič on Wednesday, appointing Igor Lamberger as its acting head. The replacement has raised dust among both coalition and opposition politicians, albeit for different reasons, while NBI employees spoke up for Muženič.

Lamberger, who holds a PhD in economics, served as a deputy president of the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption (KPK) from mid-2014 to mid-2019.

Lamberger had previously already worked for the Criminal Police Department, under the jurisdiction of which is the NBI, heading the sector for white-collar in 2002-2005.

After that, he was a lecturer at the Police College within the Police Academy until 2014. He now came to head the NBI from the team of the police commissioner.

Lamberger was appointed to head the agency investigating the severest white-collar crimes for the period until a new full-fledged director is appointed through a public call, the police said in today's press release, posted on its website.

Muženič came to the helm of the NBI on 1 June 2019, having previously led the Office for the Prevention of Money Laundering. The press release noted his expertise and sovereign leadership, and added that he had been reassigned to join the police leadership.

The news portal 24ur.com meanwhile reported that Muženič had been replaced without his consent.

However, the police said that in line with the law, the police commissioner could replace the NBI boss within a year since the police commissioner was appointed or within a year since the NBI director was appointed, without providing the reason the law entailed for dismissal.

The opposition criticised the government for dismissing Muženič while coalition and government officials pointed to Muženič's contentious role in an Iranian money-laundering scheme when he headed the Office for the Prevention of Money Laundering (February 2013 to mid-2019).

In 2009-2010, British-Iranian citizen Iraj Farrokhzade made thousands of transactions worth around US$1 billion through his NLB bank accounts in breach of Slovenia's anti money-laundering legislation while Iran was subject to international sanctions. The investigation into it is still ongoing.

Foreign Minister Anže Logar accused Muženič on Twitter of sending "false information" to foreign anti-money laundering agencies about the Iranian scheme when at the helm of the office.

"The proof of this are documents contained in the report by the parliamentary inquiry into the 2013 Slovenian bank bailout, which was sent to the NBI," Logar, who had chaired the parliamentary inquiry, added. He also wondered who could appoint a person with "such a burden" to lead the NBI.

Similarly, Prime Minister Janez Janša wondered on Twitter how "one of the key figures in the Iranian money-laundering scandal could even work for the police".

He believes that due to the politicisation of the NBI leadership, stories such as "one billion euros in laundered [Iranian] money for terrorists, billions of euros stolen from state-owned banks, and medical supplies worth hundreds of millions" have never been properly investigated.

NSi deputy group leader Jožef Horvat is bothered by Muženič having turned a blind eye as the head of the anti-money laundering office when "a billion euros was being laundered at NLB bank". "And then he became the NBI boss. Why? So that the money-laundering is not investigated," he told the press yesterday.

A different view was presented by opposition LMŠ leader Marjan Šarec, under whose premiership Muženič became NBI director. He believes he was replaced because the government wants to stop certain investigations.

Social Democrat (SD) secretary Dejan Levanič criticised the government for replacing first the police commissioner, then the head of the Office for the Prevention of Money Laundering and now the NBI director.

"The government is clearly not interested in a drop in GDP, growing unemployment and people's hardships, it is interested in the key institutions in the country to protect its own interests," he twitted.

The LMŠ later presented a request to hold a session of the parliamentary Home Affairs Committee to debate what it believes to be the last in a series of politically motivated staffing changes at the police and security agencies.

The largest opposition deputy group admits the government is authorised to appoint directors, yet the fast replacement of key staff in Slovenia's police and security system raises doubt the replacements were motivated by the interest to fully control security and intelligence services.

One of the reasons for this is according to the LMŠ to cover up certain irregularities burdening individuals connected with the ruling Democrats (SDS).

A debate on the issues is also supported by the fellow opposition SD and the Left.

Supporting Muženič after today's dismissal were also NBI employees and one of the two police trade unions, the PSS, while the SPS declined to comment.

The PSS told the STA that Muženič enjoyed full support of employees, and NBI employees said in a public letter the NBI must operate independently of any political block.

The letter says Muženič has been professional all along so his dismissal is inadmissible and not in line with the reasons the law entails for dismissals.

As such, it raises doubts about political interference, which in the long-run undermines security organisations and effective crime investigation in the country.

Since it was launched ten years ago, the NBI has investigated 1,100 crimes and filed almost 800 criminal complaints at the prosecution, over cases in which alleged criminals illegally gained one billion euro in total.

STA, 19 February 2020 - Tensions are running high as the police and the Democrats (SDS) clashed over the jurisdiction of the parliamentary Commission for Intelligence and Security Services Oversight (KNOVS), which wanted to investigate on Tuesday allegations that police had been spying on coalition party heads on behalf of outgoing Prime Minister Marjan Šarec.

Three KNOVS members made an unannounced visit to the police headquarters yesterday, investigating the suspicion that Šarec and his state secretary Damir Črnčec abused the police to gain information to extort party leaders in coalition-building talks with the SDS.

Šarec and Črnčec - the latter ran both national intelligence agencies under Janša's rule - both denied the allegations, with Šarec saying that the media "close to the SDS...are obviously describing their own methods".

He believes the SDS, whose MP Žan Mahnič led Tuesday's visit by KNOVS, is abusing the commission for political purposes.

"Independent institutions are investigating Hungarian funds which are flowing we all know where and attention has to be diverted," he said in reference to alleged by-bass funding of the SDS or the media associated with the party through circles close to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Črnčec denied the allegation through his lawyer, and posted a lengthy post on Facebook this morning, criticising Janša. He also wondered why and for how much Janša had "sold Slovenia's national interests to Hungary".

He said in a post that Janša's and him parted ways parted when he had realised that "the SDS apparatus operates on the principles of a mafia business, where all paths lead to its leader and his inner circle".

Meanwhile, the police force also issued a determined response, underlining it is not "a dislocated unit of any politician or of any political organisation."

Police Commissioner Tatjana Bobnar said in a statement that the three members of KNOVS had tried to gain access to information that were beyond the scope of their legal powers.

The police said they wanted the names of police officers who potentially accessed records of certain MPs and information about ongoing investigations, including in cases without covert methods, the latter being in the domain of KNOVS.

Bobnar said the police would not give in to pressure from anybody and called for an election campaign built on arguments and not made-up stories at the expense of the police force and threats to its leadership. She vowed that the police would do everything in its power to prevent the spread of fake news within the force.

She also noted KNOVS deputy chair Žan Mahnič warned her she might want to think about her future because she would face criminal charges if the commission finds out that she was covering up political abuse of the police force. The statement interpreted as a threat was witnessed by Bobnar's deputy, as well as the boss of the criminal police departments.

Mahnič later tried to downplay this, announcing that a different parliamentary commission that is already looking into alleged politically-motivated prosecution would look into the spying allegations and demand the material that was denied to KNOVS.

The commission demands that the police provide within 10 days a list of all interventions into police records for any of the 90 MPs, all the cabinet ministers and the outgoing prime minister.

The General Police Administration said that the police had started checking the allegations and that the state prosecution would be kept informed.

Most parliamentary parties have expressed concern over the allegations. They believe that the matter should be investigated and all suspicions clarified.

According to reports by news portal Požareport, the alleged mission by Črnčec and Šarec targeted friends of Zdravko Počivalšek, the outgoing minister of economy and the head of the Modern Centre Party (SMC) and MPs of the SMC, as well as MPs of the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) and of the Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB).

Meanwhile, the Left's MP Miha Kordiš labelled the developments as usual political scandaling, and took aim at the SDS.

The party and Janša have abused state institutions many times, he said, adding that Črnčec also belonged to that school of thought. It would not be surprising if the prime minister "has developed this bad habit too", he said.

STA, 19 February 2020 - Prime Minister Marjan Šarec has denied allegations that he and his State Secretary Damir Črnčec demanded information from the police about party officials in coalition-building talks with the Democrats (SDS) so as to pressure them to withdraw from the talks.

"When various portals close to the SDS report that I ordered lists and whatever else about parties in government negotiations it is clear that they are describing their own methods," Šarec tweeted last night.

Ko razni portali, ki so blizu SDS poročajo, da sem naročil sezname in ne vem kaj še vse o strankah, ki se pogajajo za vstop v vlado, je jasno, da opisujejo svoje metode. To je napad na policijo brez primere. Verjamem, da bi pri njih tako delovalo. In verjetno kdaj tudi je.

— Marjan Šarec (@sarecmarjan) February 18, 2020

"This is an attack on the police force without comparison. I believe that things would work that way with [SDS]. Maybe they already did in the past," he also said in the tweet posted after it was reported that the parliamentary Commission for the Oversight of Intelligence and Security Services (KNOVS) had visited the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) [that story is here].

On Facebook this morning Šarec said: "This is the same scenario all over again; a few KNOVS members make an unannounced visit to the NBI and the police. Because the NBI is allegedly being abused to persecute political opponents.

"But in truth, KNOVS is the one being abused and nobody else. Independent institutions are investigating Hungarian funds which are flowing we all know where and attention has to be diverted."

Yesterday's inspection was headed by KNOVS vice president Žan Mahnič, a member of the SDS, the party associated with media that have allegedly received funding from circles close to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

It was reported last week that the NBI was investigating alleged funding from Hungary to two media outlets close to the SDS, which the SDS has no denied. However, the police said yesterday in relation to this that they were not investigating illegal funding of political parties but a criminal act investigated ex officio.

Šarec's State Secretary Črnčec issued a statement through his lawyer last night denying reports by the right-leaning Demokracija that he had spun a web of spies.

This morning, he also took to Facebook, posting a strong-worded criticism of SDS leader Janez Janša. Črnčec used to be an associate of Janša's and was appointed the head of the Intelligence and Security Agency at the Ministry of Defence in 2005 when Janša was first prime minister and became the head of the National Intelligence and Security Agency SOVA in 2012 when Janša was prime minister a second time.

Today, he said that Janša's modus operandi was harmful to democracy and right-wing political parties. He said that their ways parted when he realised that "the SDS apparatus operates on the principles of a mafia business, where all paths lead to its leader and his inner circle".

He said he needed a while to realise the ramifications of Janša's modus operandi, which, he says entails submissiveness to foreigners while systemically undermining vital social subsystems, like freedom of speech and other constitutional values, in Slovenia.

"Yesterday's fake news about alleged mass espionage, the abuse of KNOVS by MPs of the SDS, and the attack on the police show how close Slovenia is to slipping into Janševist authoritarianism, funded with no-good money from abroad."

In his post, Črnčec also wonders "why and for how many Judas silver coins or millions did [Janša] sell Slovenia's national interests to its eastern neighbour".

STA, 18 February 2020 - The parliamentary Commission for Intelligence and Security Services Oversight performed an unannounced inspection at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI; Nacionalnega preiskovalnega urada – NPU; “Slovenia’s FBI”) on Tuesday, investigating suspicion that pressure was being exerted on political officials participating in coalition-building talks conducted by the Democrats. The police strongly rejected this.

Commission vice president Žan Mahnič, a member of the Democrats (SDS), told the STA that three commission members visited the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on suspicion that outgoing Prime Minister Marjan Šarec and his state secretary Damir Črnčec had abused intelligence and security services to "influence, threaten and extort MPs and leaderships of parties of the potential future coalition".

Related: Interview With the Head of Slovenia’s National Bureau of Investigations

Mahnič was accompanies to the NBI by his party colleague Zvonko Černač, and Branko Simonovič of the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS), which is also in talks for the potential new coalition.

This comes after newsportal Požareport reported that Črnčec has delivered to certain criminal police officers "a list of people who had to be processed for information".

This alleged mission reportedly targetted friends of Zdravko Počivalšek, the outgoing minister of economy and the head of the Modern centre Party (SMC) and MPs of the SMC, as well as MPs of DeSUS and of the Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB), the portal said.

It added that criminal police had also been looking into privatisation of spa operator Terme Olimija, where Počivalšek served as CEO for a long period before becoming economy minister.

Commercial broadcaster Kanal A reported that KNOVS members spent an hour and a half talking to Police Commissioner Tatjana Bobnar. Mahnič told the STA the group could not perform the inspection in its entirety because Bobnar had blocked them.

"We wanted to see who of the employees might have gone through records of certain MPs and politicians in the past days and weeks, but she would not permit it," Mahnič said.

The police, meanwhile, released a strong-worded response, rejecting the reports that criminal police officers were looking into party officials at the order of the prime minister's office. "We are not a dislocated unit of any politician or of any political organisation."

"Background checks of people for political reasons are not a part of the police job description, legally defined or otherwise. The police does not investigate a list of politicians and their families based on an order.

"There are no confidants in the police to carry out such operations on the orders of any politician, and the collecting of useful information is not the police force's job."

The police sees the developments as a result of "mutual accusations in different media among different sides, who show a distorted image of the police force's work".

"In order to get the police force to engage in the debate, and operating under the principle of the goal justifying the means, they are discrediting certain units, the leadership and individuals within the force."

The General Police Administration believes that the goal is to destabilise the criminal police force, reduce its effectiveness and indirectly influence its work in concrete investigations. However, the police force will not give in, the statement says.

The statement also touched on the recent reports about alleged funding of the SDS from Hungary being investigated by the NBI, saying that the NBI "is not investigating illegal funding of political parties, but has been investigating since March 2018 suspicions that a criminal act had been committed for which the perpetrator must be persecuted ex officio.

"Irrespective of the suspect in this case, the police will, now and in the future, carry out the investigation with expertise and in line with the law, no matter the pressure exerted."

Črnčec meanwhile issued a statement through his lawyer, denying a report posted on the website of the right-leaning Demokracij that he had established a network of spies to exert pressure on party officials.

He also said that he had not subjected to himself the police or intelligence services and abused his previous positions. Črnčec served as director general of the Intelligence and Security Agency at the Ministry of Defence between 2005 and 2012, after which he was appointed director of the intelligence and security service SOVA.

STA, 14 January 2020 - Darko Muženič, the director of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI; Nacionalnega preiskovalnega urada - NPU), does not think there are untouchables in Slovenia, but he does think that procedures are taking too long. He also told the STA in an interview that crime investigation and prosecution should adapt to globalisation and new technologies.

In the ten years since its inception, the NBI has handled 1,100 criminal offences, filing 796 criminal complaints for criminal acts that netted a total of EUR 1.048 billion in illegal proceeds.

Calling the decision to establish the bureau visionary, Muženič says that the NBI can respond nation-wide any time and any place with all resources.

The staff includes 58 fully operative investigators, but Muženič would like to staff the bureau up, mainly with operational analysts and computer forensic specialists.

The NBI is looking for experienced crime investigators with specialist expertise to keep abreast with offenders, who use advanced technologies, virtual currencies, and even transport drugs by submarines.

"They are always in step with technological advances to cover up their activities," says Muženič, so he does not think it possible for the law enforcement to work the same way as it did 50 years ago.

The NBI cannot attract staff with wages alone. "People who come to work with us want to investigate crime and do something good," says Muženič, a former crime investigator himself.

He believes that criminal procedures in Slovenia are taking too long, wondering whether sanctions are still effective if conviction follows several years after the crime is first discovered.

He offered Italy as a good example of fast prosecution of corporate crime. "Remember the Parmalat financial fraud scandal? From detection of the crime (...) to conviction and confiscation of property, it took two years. The recent first-instance conviction in the Hypo case in Slovenia followed seven years after the criminal complaint."

Moreover, vehicles confiscated in Italy are made available to public services such as police or social services, while in Slovenia impounded vehicles "are kept stored until all procedures are concluded".

The NBI last year sought temporary seizure of assets as security against illegal proceeds in the amount of EUR 115 million.

Muženič also believes that there is still too little awareness in Slovenia about the damage financial crime causes to the country.

"In the US someone who willingly cheats employees and fails to pay tax is sent to prison for 40 years. In Slovenia such procedures take 10 to 15 years or may even become statute barred."

If failure to pay tax is seen as a sin abroad, it is still seen as being resourceful in Slovenia. "The problem is people's mentality."

Muženič lauded cooperation between the NBI, police crime investigation divisions and the Financial Administration, as well as other state bodies, but noted that resolving corporate crime takes time.

It is lengthy procedures in the past that may have caused the impression in public that there are people who are untouchable for the hand of justice, but he does not think this is true.

Muženič also notes the public misconception that someone who is subject to a house search, for example, must be guilty. This is why he disagrees with media presence during house searches.

"It's also true that when we opt for a house search, we are almost hundred percent sure that the person under investigation is also the perpetrator.

"When we draw up a complaint, we justify why we believe the suspect committed the crime. However, the court has the final say, deliberates whether evidence and our grounding are consistent enough to prove guilt."

Muženič, who took over at the NBI a few months ago having previously served as the head of the Office for Money Laundering Prevention, has made crack-down on money laundering and corruption one of his priorities.

"We don't have big international corporations, professional money launders as they have abroad. It's all done on a smaller scale, but still considerable considering the country's size."

Even though there is not much talk about that in public, the police are working on these crimes, he says.

When it comes to money laundering, Slovenia has a robust preventive system, legislation aligned with the EU, and financial institutions have good systems to detect deviations.

As one of its strategic priorities, the NBI also monitors developments in public investment projects. However, Muženič says that mainly prevention is important when it comes to public tenders.

"Procedures must be conducted transparently and so as to detect flaws on time and notify those in charge. It is the job of those who run public contracting and of effective legislation."