ZAGREB, July 19, 2018 - Varaždin Mayor Ivan Čehok was sentenced on Thursday pending appeal to two years in prison after the court found him guilty of the charges of having favoured companies owned by his co-defendant, Varaždin businessman Davor Patafta, and defrauding the town budget of 14 million kuna between late 2007 and mid-2011.
Patafta was sentenced to 20 months for incitement to abuse of office. Also sentenced was Narcisa Huljev, who works for Patafta. She was given a sentence of 18 months of which she will spend nine in jail. Huljev must also pay a fine of 450,000 kuna.
The other indictees in this case were Tomislav Kezelj and Hrvoje Vojvoda, who were acquitted, and three firms owned by Patafta. The Office for Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime USKOK had accused them of conspiracy to commit crime, abuse of office, and incitement to abuse of office.
Čehok resigned as mayor of Varaždin over the case in 2014. He was re-elected mayor at local elections held in 2017.
He posted a 2.5 million bail kuna for release from investigative detention at the time, while Patafta posted one of the highest bail amounts in Croatia's judicial history – 12 million kuna.
