Milosevic aide dies after cash-siphoning charges

A former aide to late Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic has died after being charged with siphoning millions in state money to foreign accounts.

Jovan Zebic, who held top government posts during Milosevic’s rule in the 1990s, died late yesterday, said Ivica Dacic, leader of the Socialist Party.

The cause of death and the funeral arrangements were not revealed.

Mr Zebic died three days after Serbia’s special prosecutor for organised crime charged him and Mihalj Kertes, Milosevic’s former customs chief, with abuse of position and embezzlement.

The indictment alleges the two acted under Milosevic’s orders and illegally transferred millions of pounds in state money to Cyprus and dozens of offshore accounts while the country was under UN sanctions in the 1990s.