ZAGREB, 11 July 2022 - The first indictee of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Croatia, Danijel Vinković, on Monday pleaded guilty to subsidy fraud worth €1 million, settling for a ten-month prison sentence which was replaced with community service.
The Zagreb County Court was to have decided today on the EPPO's indictment against Vinković, who pleaded guilty before the indictment panel and reaching an agreement with the prosecution, Hina learned at the court.
The businessman from Međimurje was charged with applying to the Paying Agency for Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development for a HRK 7.4 million grant in 2020. Of that amount, 85% was from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the rest from the Croatian state budget.
According to the EPPO's indictment, Vinković falsified documents on his eligibility for the aid. His application was rejected because the Paying Agency noticed that he did not meet the eligibility criteria.
The Paying Agency said earlier it paid HRK 176,435 in direct aid to Vinković from 2018 to March 2021 and HRK 3.9 million to his father from 2012 to May this year for farming equipment.
Vinković was indicted this past May and the trial was held at the Zagreb County Court which, under the law, is the only court in Croatia with jurisdiction over trials initiated by the EPPO.
(€1 = HRK 7.5)
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