Four people have been arrested in Croatia on suspicion of abusing public office in a case involving EU recovery funds for a community centre renovation.
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Zagreb has opened an investigation into four individuals and two companies, with the arrests carried out at its request a day earlier, it announced.
Urgent investigative measures were carried out by Croatia’s National Police Office for Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime (PNUSKOK).
A municipal mayor is suspected of taking steps to secure a financial benefit for himself and others linked to a €349,818.83 project to renovate a community centre and improve its energy efficiency.
The project began in 2025 and is co-funded by the EU through Croatia’s Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund under the country’s 2021–2026 National Recovery and Resilience Plan, financed by the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).
EU funding covers 80.16% of the project’s eligible costs.
Investigators suspect the mayor arranged for the EU-funded project to pay for work that two companies had already carried out at the community centre, as well as work at homes belonging to the mayor’s family members.
The two companies are alleged to have submitted pre-arranged bids, while a supervisory engineer — acting on the mayor’s instructions — included the cost of the completed works in the project budget.
Alleged false documents and payments
After the bid was selected, the suspects are alleged to have submitted false documents to obtain payment for work that was not carried out under the energy renovation project, the EPPO said.
Once the supervisory engineer had verified the documentation, payments totalling €104,284.81 were made to the two companies, securing an unlawful gain of the same amount.
The alleged conduct caused damage of €83,594.70 to the RRF — an EU pot set up to support recovery and reforms — and at least €20,690.11 to the municipality’s budget.
All people concerned are presumed innocent until proven guilty in the competent Croatian courts.
