A new indictment has been issued against former Varazdin mayor Ivan Cehok, businessman Davor Patafta and three more people on the suspicion that they conspired to defraud the budget of that northern Croatian city by HRK 49.5 million.
The anti-corruption agency USKOK charges them with abuse of office and other white-collar crimes.
Cehok, who is the first defendant in the case, is believed to have abused his powers as Varazdin Mayor from 2007 to June 2011 by favouring Patafta and his three companies -- T7 Grupa, T7 Vis and Winair.
According to the indictment, Cehok favoured Patafta's companies in waste management operations and land purchase for state-subsidised housing construction as well as enabled him to take over the management of the Varazdin airport.
Thus, at least HRK 35.8 million was unlawfully paid to Patafta's companies, while the city and companies in its ownership were defrauded of at least HRK 49.5 million.
In late October the Office of the Municipal Prosecutor in Koprivnica issued an indictment against Cehok for signing a harmful contract with the city-owned company for the maintenance of green areas "Parkovi", whose former director Miljenko Pticek was indicted for inciting Cehok to sign the deal.
In that case, Cehok was indicted for defrauding the city budget of 4.46 million kuna because in March 2006, when he was Varazdin's mayor, acting at Pticek's instigation, he signed with him a contract on a real estate swap even though he was aware that the contract was harmful and would cause extensive financial damage to the city budget.
After spending 50 days in investigative custody, Cehok, a member of the sixth parliament, was released on 27 July this year posting HRK 2.6 million bail.
In mid-July he resigned from the post of Varazdin mayor.
