Alta Bank Probe: 370 Million Euros Via Alta Pay

The order to open an investigation into Alta Bank, whose contents KRIK revealed on Wednesday evening, shows for the first time how money was allegedly taken out of the bank. Prosecutors suspect that Davor Macura, chairman of the Supervisory Board, unlawfully appropriated about 390 million euros (more than 45 billion dinars), and that the bulk of it, about 370 million euros, was recorded as takings of the Alta Pay exchange office that never reached the vault.

Until now, the public knew only the overall suspicion of 45 billion dinars. The order, which according to KRIK’s report prosecutors drew up on November 3, 2026, also gives the first breakdown by method. The published excerpts do not say which prosecutor’s office issued it.

How was the money allegedly taken out?

The suspicion covers the period from the start of 2020 to the end of October 2026, while Macura headed the bank’s Supervisory Board. Prosecutors describe two mechanisms:

• Cash from the vault: Macura asked associates to take money out of the central vault with no written record and no entry in the official documentation, which, prosecutors claim, they did. Almost 17 million euros was taken from the vault this way.
• Alta Pay exchange office takings: Macura sent payment orders for the exchange office’s takings, on the basis of which the books showed the money as received in the central vault. According to prosecutors, the money never reached the vault and Macura kept it for himself. About 370 million euros was appropriated this way.

By these figures, the cash physically removed from the vault accounts for less than five percent of the sum in question. Most of it, as the order puts it, never entered the bank at all.

What the order does not explain

The document does not clarify how Macura took possession of money that was never deposited, where that cash was held, or how it was used afterward. That is the biggest open question in the published excerpts: prosecutors describe how the records were falsified, but not where the money went.

Besides Macura, two Alta Bank employees are suspects: the head of the vault and cash management department and an associate for vault operations. Their names have not been published.

Who will testify in the investigation

Prosecutors plan to question as witnesses National Bank of Serbia (NBS) Governor Jorgovanka Tabakovic, Darko Stamenkovic, director of the NBS bank supervision department, members of Alta Bank’s supervisory and executive boards, and employees of the central vault. According to the published excerpts, the order does not say what will be asked of them.

Detention and defense

Macura was arrested on Monday, November 2, three days after the National Bank of Serbia revoked Alta Bank’s license. In a statement, the National Bank of Serbia said it revoked the license because of a “serious deterioration of the financial position and a threat to depositors.” Macura and two associates were placed in detention over the risk of flight, interference with witnesses and repeat offenses.

Macura denied guilt in questioning at the prosecutor’s office, his lawyer Isa Spahovic said. Everything above consists of allegations by prosecutors from the order, and guilt has not been established.