Former minister sentenced to two years of imprisonment for abuse of office and authority  in Croatia

The former Croatian Minister for Regional Development and EU Funds (MRRFEU) was convicted by the County Court of Zagreb (Croatia) and sentenced to two years of imprisonment for abuse of office and authority, as well as trading in influence. This conviction follows an indictment issued by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Zagreb.  

As previously reported, the former minister, the former director of Croatia’s Central Finance and Contracting Agency (SAFU), and two business owners were accused of trading in influence, and of abuse of office and authority. 

In 2017, the former minister launched a public procurement procedure for an information system and took actions to ensure a privileged position for a business owner and his companies. She inflated the estimated value of the procurement and decided to conduct a negotiated procurement procedure without publishing a public invitation to tender. The business owner's companies were then invited to submit their bids, and the contract was eventually awarded to them at an unrealistically high price of €1.73 million. 

In the course of its investigation, the EPPO established that the former minister and the business owners continued to take action to award the contract to their companies, despite the procedure being annulled due to a breach of the law on public procurement.  

The contract was eventually concluded, and the business owners received a large sum of money, which was then transferred to their accounts or withdrawn in cash. The estimated damage to the EU budget is of at least €1 million, and the estimated damages to the state budget of the Republic of Croatia amounts to almost €300 000. 

The former minister has been sentenced to two years of imprisonment.   

The verdict is the result of plea bargain, as she pleaded guilty to her charges; and prior to the signing of the plea bargain, she has paid €200 000 as a partial compensation for the damage, which does not exclude the claimants’ right to claim a compensation for other damage according to the principle of joint and several liability.  

The criminal proceedings against the other three accused persons – the former director of the SAFU and the two owners of the accused companies, as well as against the two companies – are still ongoing. (source: eppo.europa.eu/photo freepik.com)

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