Former SDP Sisak-Moslavina County Prefect Marina Lovrić Merzel pleaded guilty on Monday at the beginning of the retrial at the Zagreb County Court for misusing county funds for personal purposes, and the court will announce the new verdict at 1 PM.
– I have nothing to present in my defense and I accept what is charged against me in this indictment – said Lovrić Merzel when asked by the judge whether she would present a defense or remain silent.
Given that the former prefect admitted guilt and both parties in the proceedings agreed to the proposed evidence, the trial was concluded after about ten minutes.
Lovrić Merzel’s defense requested in closing statements that the court impose the mildest possible sentence on the former prefect considering her admission, as well as a one-year deadline for the payment of the property claim of 16,000 euros since she is serving a prison sentence and her income has decreased.
The High Criminal Court (VKS) definitively sentenced Marina Lovrić Merzel last year to six years in prison for abuse of position and authority, receiving bribes, money laundering, and forgery, and ordered a new trial for the payment of private expenses with county funds.
In March 2022, Lovrić Merzel was provisionally sentenced to seven years in prison at the Zagreb County Court for a series of corrupt criminal acts, and she was taken directly from the courtroom to prison.
The former president of the Supervisory Board of Cesta Sisak, Silvijo Kobeščak, was sentenced to one year in prison. Bernard Popec, who sold a building for the Emergency Medical Service to the county above the price, and the former prefect’s nephew, Dalibor Rožanković, who was accused of laundering money that Lovrić Merzel received as a bribe by purchasing an apartment, were both sentenced to one and a half years.
For Lovrić Merzel, the VKS renamed the first-instance verdict and in the decision on the confiscation of property benefits, in addition to the apartment and equipment purchased with the received bribe, 90,000 euros were also definitively confiscated from her.
Turudić Refused to Accept the Settlement with the Penitent
Other sentences were confirmed except that Rožanković received a partially conditional sentence, so he will serve half of the sentence behind bars and the rest on probation.
The indictment by Uskok also included entrepreneur Željko Žužić, who reached a settlement with the prosecution after admitting in 2016 that he gave the former prefect 100,000 euros in bribes, and he was sentenced to a conditional sentence of one year with a probation period of four years, as well as the former head of Croatian Forests, Zvonko Rožić, who was sentenced to eight months in prison conditionally for two years after reaching a settlement with Uskok.
Lovrić Merzel was accused of receiving 100,000 euros in bribes from Žužić to sell the company Cesta Sisak to his company and of concealing the received money by purchasing an apartment in Diklo, which was registered in her nephew’s name.
The former prefect was also charged by Uskok with having taken all necessary actions contrary to the county’s decision to build the Emergency Medical Institute at another location to ensure that Popec’s property was purchased at a significantly higher price, which illegally enriched his company by about 4 million kuna, while the county was damaged by 5.6 million kuna.
In addition, Uskok accused her of unjustified consulting services and of concluding fictitious contracts for work with councilors, friends, and relatives, as well as that the county, at her request, paid for food and drink expenses at various meetings, private lunches, and celebrations, and that she procured food, drink, and fuel for private needs at the county’s expense, for which she awaits a new trial.
