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Two arrested in Croatia on suspicion of subsidy fraud and abuse of office and of authority

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Croatian version below

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) has launched an investigation against two Croatian nationals for subsidy fraud and abuse of office and authority. Both suspects were arrested yesterday, 7 July 2022, at the EPPO’s request, following investigative activities conducted in cooperation with the Croatian National Police Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime, and the Tax Administration’s Independent Financial Investigation Sector of Croatia’s Ministry of Finance.

The first suspect, the owner of a family farm, applied in early May 2020 to Croatia’s Paying Agency for Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development (hereinafter: the Agency) for an investment in the wine sector, namely the project ‘Construction and Equipping of a Winery’, valued at HRK 4 659 766.79 (approx. €620 000.00), with an EU co-financing rate of 85%.

It is alleged that in that application, the suspect – in order to demonstrate that he met the mandatory conditions of the tender for the grant – falsely stated, several times, that the financing of the project would be secured by a loan from a financial institution, and to that end, he submitted a letter of intent issued by a bank. However, the suspect did not apply for a loan, nor did he intend to apply for one; in fact, he financed the project with money for which, in part he could not prove lawful origin. Moreover, he did not notify the Agency of that change, and was granted and received a subsidy of HRK 2 927 328.51 (€396 500.00).

The same suspect also applied for another tender, published by the Agency on 2 June 2021, for raising new and/or restructuring vineyards. It is believed that in that second application, he used a certificate of economic size that had been issued to him based on false data regarding the resources used in production at his family farm, thus falsely demonstrating that his family farm met the eligibility requirements of the tender.

In order to obtain another certificate for this second tender, the Technological Project for Vineyard Raising, the first suspect personally handed over to the second suspect, an official at Croatia’s Ministry of Agriculture, a document that the applicants seeking subsidies from this tender had to submit, along with the tender applications. The first suspect stated in that document that the study was intended for raising and equipping a permanent vineyard – despite the fact that he had already planted vines on those plots and was aware that, for that reason, he did not meet the eligibility requirements of the tender.

At the request of the first suspect, and despite the fact that the vines were already planted, the second suspect issued the desired certificate to enable the first suspect to apply for the tender, contrary to the eligibility requirements. However, Croatia’s Ministry of Agriculture and the Croatian Agency for Agriculture and Food refused to issue a positive opinion on the submitted technological project, because they gained knowledge about the already existing vines and had observed other irregularities and ambiguities.

The first suspect, after this refusal, removed the previously planted vines, obtained a new technological project and attached it to the application of the said tender.

By doing this, he expected to receive a total subsidy of HRK 1 536 850.28 (€200 000) with an EU co-financing rate of 85%, which would amount to HRK 1 306 322.74 (€173 482.43).

However, due to the fact that the Agency conducted the process of administrative control of the respective applications and found that the first suspect did not meet the eligibility criteria, the subsidies were not awarded.

The EPPO will propose to the investigative judge to order pre-trail detention against both suspects.

 

Dvije osobe uhićene u Hrvatskoj zbog sumnje na subvencijske prijevare i zlouporabu položaja i ovlasti

Ured europskog javnog tužitelja (EPPO) pokrenuo je istragu protiv dvojice hrvatskih državljana zbog kaznenih djela subvencijske prijevare i zlouporabe položaja i ovlasti. Obje osumnjičene osobe uhićene su jučer, 7. srpnja 2022, na zahtjev EPPO-a, nakon provedenih istražnih radnji provedenih u suradnji s hrvatskim Policijskim nacionalnim uredom za suzbijanje korupcije i organiziranog kriminaliteta i Samostalnim sektorom za financijske istrage Porezne uprave Ministarstva financija. 

Prvoosumnjičenik je, kao vlasnik obiteljskog poljoprivrednog gospodarstva, početkom svibnja 2020. godine, Agenciji za plaćanje u poljoprivredi, ribarstvu i ruralnom razvoju (dalje u tekstu: Agencija) podnio prijavu za ulaganje u sektor vina za projekt “Izgradnja i opremanje vinarije”, ukupne vrijednosti 4.659.766,79 kuna (oko 620.000,00 EUR-a), pri čemu je razina sufinanciranja sredstvima EU bila 70%.

Osumnjičenik je u toj  prijavi, kako bi prikazao da ispunjava obvezne uvjete natječaja za dobivanje bespovratnih sredstava, na više mjesta lažno naveo da će financiranje projekta osigurati kreditom financijske institucije, te je u tu svrhu priložio pismo namjere jedne banke. Međutim, prvoosumnjičenik kredit nije tražio niti ga je imao namjeru tražiti, već je navedeni projekt financirao novcem čije zakonito porijeklo dijelom ne može dokazati. Štoviše, on nije obavijestio Agenciju o  promjeni načina financiranja,  te mu je od strane Agencije odobrena i isplaćena potpora u iznosu od 2.927.328,51 kuna (396.500,00 EUR-a).

Isti se osumnjičenik prijavio na drugi natječaj, koji je raspisala Agencija 2. lipnja 2021. godine, za podizanje novih i/ili restrukturiranje vinograda. U toj drugoj prijavi koristio je potvrdu o ekonomskoj veličini koja mu je bila izdana na temelju neistinitih podataka o resursima korištenim u proizvodnji na njegovom poljoprivrednom gospodarstvu, čime je lažno prikazao da njegovo obiteljsko poljoprivredno gospodarstvo ispunjava uvjete prihvatljivosti natječaja.

Kako bi pribavio potvrdu Tehnološkog projekta podizanja vinograda, potrebnu za taj drugi natječaj, , prvoosumnjičenik je osobno predao drugoosumnjičeniku, službenoj osobi Ministarstva poljoprivrede, Tehnološki projekt podizanja vinograda, koji su korisnici koji traže potporu u sklopu predmetnog natječaja bili  obvezni dostaviti uz natječajne prijave. Prvoosumnjičenik je u tom dokumentu naveo da se isti odnosi na podizanje i opremanje trajnih nasada vinograda, iako je na tim česticama prethodno već bio zasadio vinovu lozu i bio je svjestan da stoga ne ispunjava uvjete prihvatljivosti objavljenog natječaja.

Na zahtjev prvoosumnjičenika, te unatoč činjenici da je vinova loza već bila zasađena, drugoosumnjičenik je izdao traženu potvrdu, kako bi prvoosumnjičeniku omogućio da podnese prijavu na navedeni natječaj, protivno uvjetima prihvatljivosti. Međutim, Ministarstvo poljoprivrede i Hrvatska agencija za poljoprivredu i hranu odbili su izdati pozitivno mišljenje na dostavljeni tehnološki projekt zbog saznanja o postojanju već zasađenih nasada vinove loze te drugih uočenih nepravilnosti i nejasnoća.

Prvoosumnjičenik je nakon odbijanja izvadio ranije posađenu vinovu lozu, pribavio novi tehnološki projekt, te ga priložio prijavi na predmetni natječaj.

Predmetni natječajem prvoosumnjičenik je očekivao dobiti potporu u iznosu od 1.536.850,28 kuna (200.000 EUR-a), s razinom sufinanciranja sredstvima EU od 85%, što je iznos od 1.306.322,74 kuna (173.482,43 EUR-a).

Međutim, kako je Agencija provela postupak administrativne kontrole dostavljenih prijava te je utvrdila da prvoosumnjičenik ne ispunjava uvjete prihvatljivosti, izdavanje potpore nije odobreno.

EPPO će sucu istrage predložiti određivanje istražnog zatvora protiv oba osumnjičenika .