Josip Protega paid blackmailers to hide his affairs

The police in Split, Zagreb, and Varaždin, acting on the order of USKOK, uncovered and apprehended a five-member group that was blackmailing individuals suspected or involved in some media scandal. Some were additionally threatened, while others were promised assistance. In this way, they secured around 200,000 kuna.

What is most interesting is that the victims, according to USKOK and the police, indeed paid money to the extortionists. They fell into the hands of justice when one of the victims reported everything to the police. Among the deceived was the former CEO of HPB, Josip Protega, who was contacted in November 2009, convincing him that they had evidence that would exonerate him from accusations, but for that, he had to pay 40,000 kuna, the police stated. Protega was supposed to pay the requested amount in installments to an older man from Varaždin. He paid the first installment, which amounted to 12,000 kuna. In December of last year, they extracted money in the same way from a former Croatian ambassador to France. They extorted money from the mayor of Korčula and two employees from the Office of the State Commission for the Control of Public Procurement Procedures by threatening to publish documentation they possessed against them in the media. To prevent this from happening, the three of them paid the fraudsters a total of around 30,000 kuna.

The police state that the group also attempted to defraud the former mayor of Trilj, but instead, he agreed to be a USKOK informant. USKOK announces the continuation of the criminal investigation, as it is suspected that the number of victims is significantly higher. Four members of this group have already been detained in Split, and unofficially it is known that they are Jakša Dužević and Nikola Hudić from Varaždin, as well as Snežana Saragi and her daughter Barbara Saragi from Zagreb. The fifth member, presumed to be the leader of the group, Ivica Hudurović, is currently in extradition detention in Maribor, where he is awaiting extradition to Croatia for other criminal offenses. Hudurović and his four accomplices devised a truly simple plan. They selected victims based on data from the media that reported on scandals related to corruption, abuse of position, or various economic and financial malversations. They would contact them via mobile phone and request a certain sum of money for information and documents that would get them out of trouble. They presented themselves to the victims as people from OLAF, the European Anti-Fraud Office. The main suspect, Hudurović, was even more lucid. He introduced himself as the former president of the Supreme Court, Ante Potrebica. (www.hrt.hr)