A former vice-president of the Croatian Privatisation Fund (HFP), Ivan Gotovac, and businessman Svjetlan Stanic on Wednesday were found guilty of white-collar crime in a case dubbed "Little Maestro" at their retrial before the Zagreb County Court. Gotovac was given one year and ten months of imprisonment and Stanic was sentenced to one year in jail.
The retrial was held after the indictees were cleared of charges at the initial trial in February 2009, and after the Supreme Court quashed the acquittal in June last year.
At the retrial the panel of judges, presided over by Judge Gordana Mihela Grahovac, established that Gotovac was guilty of bribe taking and attempted abuse of his powers and office. Stanic was found guilty of graft and of inciting Gotovac to commit abuse of office.
Although Gotovac and Stanic insisted on their innocence, the court found that Gotovac provided Stanic with inside information enabling him to avoid market competition and acquire shares in two Split-based HFP-owned companies -- the beverage producer Dalmacijavino and the "Bellevue" Hotel -- under more favourable conditions.
In return, Stanic offered Gotovac five million kuna for trading on the stock exchange and promised him employment after he left his office at the HFP.
As for allegations that Stanic gave Gotovac a baking lid and a paid trip to Monte Carlo in exchange for information and instructions on how to acquire, bypassing market rules and under favourable conditions, Dalmacijavino shares and shares of the Bellevue hotel, Judge Grahovac said that those allegations were used by the defence in an attempt to divert attention from more important things such as the pledge of payment of five million kuna and a safe future employment.
The court found that the aggravating circumstances for Gotovac were that he caused harm to the HFP's reputation.
Judge Grahovac said that Gotovac had acted against the state whose property he was expected to protect, while Stanic encouraged him to do it so that both of them could obtain unlawful gain.
Gotovac's defence announced an appeal. Gotovac was detained in custody from June 2007 to October 2008, which is why he is not likely to be put behind bars again.
Gotovac was present at today's announcement of the verdict, while Stanic was absent. His lawyer said he was prevented by his busy schedule.
Prosecutor Sani Ljubicic from the corruption investigating agency USKOK, which filed the indictment in this case, expressed satisfaction with the guilty verdict, adding that the agency would first read the judgement before making any decision on a possible appeal against the length of the prison terms.
