The Croatian parliament's Credentials and Privileges Commission (MIP) on Thursday unanimously decided to strip Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) member of Parliament Vedran Rozic of immunity from prosecution, thus approving the launching of criminal proceedings against him on suspicion of fraud in the 1990s, when he was director of the soccer club Hajduk.
MIP chair Damir Sesvecan of the HDZ said that parliament would confirm MIP's decision at its next sitting, in the autumn.
Sesvecan said the request to approve the launching of criminal proceedings against Rozic was forwarded by the Split County Prosecutor's Office to Parliament Speaker Luka Bebic on July 26.
The request read that the County Prosecutor's Office suspects Rozic of abuse of office and fraud.
According to the request, in the period from 4 May 1992 to 1 March 1997, Rozic, who at the time was Hajduk's director, asked the club's treasurer on several occasions to give him from the club's secret currency fund a total of 635,000 German marks, which he kept for himself thus defrauding the club.
In order to cover up what he was doing, he asked the treasurer to state in the paid-out slip that the payments were intended for "special purposes".
Rozic is suspected, together with Hajduk's then sports director Ivan Buljan, of failing to deposit in the club's treasury a part of the foreign currency funds obtained by transfers of Hajduk players to foreign soccer clubs, whereby they allegedly defrauded the club of some seven million kuna.
Rozic is also suspected, together with Hajduk's former financial director Bartul Kaleb, of having paid, in the period from February 1992 to July 1997, 18 million German marks into the club's secret currency fund instead of into the club's drawing account.
The money in the fund was allegedly used to pay players and other persons rewards and premiums, for which no taxes and contributions were paid, whereby the state budget was defrauded and the club obtained illegal gain in the amount of 74 million kuna.
Rozic and Kaleb are also charged with having approved the transfer of money from one of the club's bank accounts to private companies, without any reason or the obligation for those companies to pay back the money. Hajduk was defrauded of some HRK 100,000 this way.
MIP made the decision to strip Rozic of immunity from prosecution unanimously. MIP member Arsen Bauk of the Social Democratic Party said he would like to know why the Office of the Chief State Prosecutor was only now dealing with this 20-year-old case which was first reported in 2000 and 2001 and for which the first indictment was issued in 2003.
