The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Zagreb officially initiated an investigation against two persons a former minister and a former employee of Croatia’s Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds (MRRFEU) for abuse of office and authority.
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This follows a preliminary investigation conducted in cooperation with Croatia’s National Police Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime (PNUSKOK).
The responsibility of the former minister of the MRRFEU was to ensure that EU and national funds were spent lawfully, and that public procurement procedures carried out by the MRRFEU were conducted according to the law.
According to the preliminary investigation, however, during the period from May 2017 to July 2019, the former minister insisted that her private restaurant expenses be paid with public money.
It is understood that, on at least nine occasions, she partly paid for private restaurant visits with money from the representation budget of her cabinet, which is solely intended for official representation purposes.
Based on the evidence, these expenses were partly included in the procurement costs of the EU’s ‘Competitiveness and Cohesion’ Operational Programme, managed by the MRRFEU’s Directorate for Strategic Planning and Coordination of EU Funds.
It is alleged, therefore, that this coverage of private restaurant expenses with public funds led to an undue pecuniary gain, for the former minister, of € 9 732.35 to the detriment of the financial interests of the EU (85%) and of the Republic of Croatia (15%).
It is also suspected that the former employee of the MRRFEU, who was tasked with organising official activities on behalf of the ministry’s Directorate for Strategic Planning and Coordination of EU Funds, prepared a simple procurement procedure, and took other necessary actions, to have the costs of the former minister’s restaurant birthday celebration covered by non reimbursable funds from the ‘Competitiveness and Cohesion’ Operational Programme.
This is understood, therefore, to have led to an additional expense of €1 353.77 used for the former minister’s private purposes, paid with funds from the EU (85%) and the State Budget of the Republic of Croatia (15%). ■