Witnesses Deny the Harmfulness of the Contracts

At the County Court in Split, the investigation in the so-called Brodosplit case continued with the examination of witnesses, in which broker Drago Maček, former CEO Goran Vukasović, and Management Board member Ante Luetić, along with five other individuals, are suspected of entering into harmful contracts, causing damage to the company amounting to 4.7 million kuna and for laundering illegally obtained money.

As a witness, former member of the Supervisory Board of Brodosplit Siniša Poljak was also supposed to be examined, but he did not appear, and the court has no confirmation that the summons was delivered, so he will be summoned again, said investigating judge Neven Cambj. Only the head of the Legal Department of Brodosplit, Zdravko Kabić, and three employees of the company Croatian Shipbuilding, who provided opinions on the contracts as advisors, were examined. In addition to them, the suspects include the director of Brodotrogir Mateo Tramontana, employees of Maček’s company “Iceberg” Ivica Donkov and Hrvoje Matovinović, economic advisor Ivan Cesarec, and the owner of the Split company “Armator Projekt” Danijel Nikolić. The witnesses stated that all disputed contracts with the German client were checked several times and that they passed the legally prescribed procedure before being signed. Kabić stated that he was involved in the negotiations and that he opined that the contracts with Wessels were favorable and that he still believes so. The investigation continues with the examination of witnesses.

Last week, the investigating judge rejected the request of the County State Attorney’s Office for a temporary ban on the disposal of Drago Maček’s property, as he received a response from the current CEO of Brodosplit, Domagoj Klarić, who remained in that position as the only member of the Management Board after the dismissal of Vukasović and Luetić, stating that Brodosplit does not consider itself harmed by the transactions for which the suspects are charged, which was one of the legal conditions for the “blocking” of the property. The measure of temporary prohibition of property disposal is imposed to ensure the injured party the possibility of compensation, explained Cambj.

The second legal condition for this was also not met, as the State Attorney’s Office did not prove that the suspect Drago Maček would attempt to sell or transfer the property to someone else, thereby preventing its confiscation in the event of a final conviction for the criminal offense he is charged with. The decision to open the investigation was made by the investigating judge at the beginning of May this year, after a lengthy pre-investigation procedure and the examination of several witnesses and the suspects themselves. (H)