Former Split Deputy Mayor Jure Sundov was sentenced by the Split Municipal Court on Tuesday to 14 months in prison for the criminal offense of fraud, and he is accused of defrauding the state budget of €35,800 (270,000 kuna).

According to the indictment, on December 30, 2005 Sundov submitted a written request to the competent authority for the recognition of the status of Croatian war invalid, attaching to the request 16 false medical reports.

The findings contained forged signatures and seals similar to those of psychologist Zeljko Bavcevic, neuropsychiatrist Petar Kulic, and psychiatrists Zdenko Katavic, Ante Delic, Damir Mraz, Vesna Anticevic, and Boran Uglesic.

In the hearing process, the aforementioned doctors stated that they did not examine Sundov or make any findings.

By giving such findings, the verdict states, Sundov falsely represented that he had been receiving psychiatric treatment continuously from July 18, 1997 until the submission of the request.

Sundov was paid some €3,000 (22,644 kuna) as disability allowance for the period between January 1, 2006 and April 30, 2018, and he deducted another €32,931
(248,120 kuna).

As a mitigating circumstance, judge Gamulin Frleta cited Sundov’s previous no conviction record, but in the explanation of the verdict she said that Sundov, “as a Croatian veteran, should be a person who will be a moral role model for other people, raising the standards of society”, adding that his actions insult the dignity and reputation of veterans and invalids of the 1991-95 war in Croatia.