18.
Bane was born in Belgrade on 21 October 1925, and brought up in what was then
Yugoslavia and is now Serbia. His father was Milan Kostic, who was married to his
mother Bosiljka. There were two children of the marriage, Bane and his younger
sister Jovanka. After the Russian army liberated Belgrade in October 1944 Bane was
briefly imprisoned by the Communists, but then sent to the front in March 1945 to
fight against the Nazis. He was severely wounded, suffering eight shrapnel wounds
from a mine, and was lucky to escape with his life. There followed another spell of
imprisonment by the Russians, and extensive treatment for his wounds. He went on
to study organic chemistry at the University of Zagreb, and graduated in 1951 with a
diploma in that subject. He then worked for a company in Zagreb called Inex which
had a number of offices around the world. His work took him abroad on a regular
basis, including a spell of two or three years in Egypt and frequent visits to England.
In 1963 he was posted to London, and from then onwards he lived in England.
19.
Meanwhile, in 1956 Bane had married Mirjana Demarchi (“Mirjana”), who came
from Zagreb and was some two years younger than he was. Zoran, their only child,
was born, as I have already said, on 9 July 1957.
20.
Bane’s sister Jovanka had also studied in Zagreb and obtained a doctorate in
technological science. She married and in 1961 moved with her husband to
Switzerland where they formed a pharmaceutical company called Transtrade AG.
The company prospered, and the decision was taken to open a UK branch which they
invited Bane to run. He agreed, and in October 1964 Transtrade UK Ltd was formed
with the shares held as to 45% by Bane, 5.5% by Mirjana and 49.5% by Transtrade
AG. Bane and his wife were therefore together the majority shareholders in
Transtrade UK Ltd.
21.
Bane was very good at his job, and built up a thriving pharmaceutical business trading
with all the major companies in the sector such as Glaxo, Ciba-Geigy and HoffmannLa Roche; he also traded extensively in precious metals. However, in 1971 tragedy
struck. Bane and his brother in law, Zdenko Kovacevic, were driving home from a
football match in Switzerland. They were involved in a very serious car crash. Mr
Kovacevic, who was driving, was killed. Bane suffered a serious head injury,
concussion and shock, but survived. For a second time, he was lucky to escape with
his life.
22.
Following her husband’s death, Jovanka became the sole shareholder in Transtrade
AG, but Bane took over the running of that company as well as continuing to run to
Transtrade UK Ltd. According to his sister, it was a very stressful time for him, and
he would fly between England and Switzerland at least once a week. When in
Switzerland, he would stay at Jovanka’s apartment in Zollikon, near Zurich.
23.
Perhaps because of his near brush with death, Bane decided to make a will. The 1971
Will was prepared for him by his solicitor, Mr Victor Hadley of Herbert
Oppenheimer, Nathan and Van Dyke (“Oppenheimers”). It was confined to his estate
in the United Kingdom, and in clause 1 Bane recorded that he had been born in
Yugoslavia and was still domiciled there, not having acquired a domicile of choice in
any other country. He expressed the wish to be buried, if practicable, in the family
grave in the principal cemetery at Zagreb. He appointed as his executors his wife
Mirjana, a Mr John Hurst and his accountant, Alfred Nathan Homburger of Blick,
Rothenburg & Noble (who were also the auditors of Transtrade UK Ltd). He