A Zagreb County Court investigating judge on Thursday ruled month-long custody for former JANAF oil pipeline CEO Dragan Kovacevic, who is suspected of bribe-taking and unlawful preferential treatment, and three other suspects, Hina learned from sources at the court.

Court spokesman Kresimir Devcic said that Kovacevic and Cefis company owner Ivan Siric, former JANAF security and protection sector head Vlado Zoric and M.G.S. company director Edo Seifried have been remanded in custody due to the risk of witness tampering.

Tender fixing, flats and cars

The anti-corruption office USKOK believes that in the period from March 2012 to 16 September 2020 Kovacevic made it possible for Siric’s company, in fixed tenders, to win a number of IT contracts worth HRK 18.2 million in exchange for two flats, in Zagreb and Split, and for an Alfa Romeo Giulietta and the lease of a Lexus.

In doing so, Kovacevic arranged with Siric to hide his ownership of the flats and cars worth HRK 2.8 million by having Siric register them as his company’s property.

USKOK also suspects that in the period from September 2018 to May 2020 Kovacevic made it possible for Seifried’s company to procure two special firefighting vehicles worth HRK 15.5 million.

He secured the procurement on the condition that Seifried, as a subcontractor in the job of procuring firefighting vehicles, hire Siric’s company and give him HRK 4.1 million for that, to which Seifried agreed.

Kovacevic ordered JANAF’s Zoric, who was in charge of the procurement job, to let Seifried make the technical documentation and set conditions to be met by bidders.

After several tenders, in July 2019 a contract was signed with Seifried’s company worth HRK 15.5 million and in September that same year, Seifried hired Siric’s company, as previously agreed with Kovacevic, as a subcontractor in the delivery of firefighting vehicles, with which he signed a contract on software for the delivery of firefighting vehicles worth HRK 4.1 million.

The Police Directorate believes that by fixing jobs for Siric’s company and its business partners, Kovacevic made it possible for them to win contracts for services and products worth HRK 37.5 million.

Kovacevic arrested after detention in JANAF scandal

Kovacevic was again arrested on Wednesday less than five months after his release from custody in the JANAF scandal, in which he is suspected of taking bribes from the main suspect in that case, the owner of the Elektro Centar Petek company, Kreso Petek.

Petek allegedly bribed former Velika Gorica mayor and former Croatian Democratic Union MP, Drazen Barisic, and former Social Democratic Party MP and former Nova Gradiska mayor, Vinko Grgic, so that his company could land jobs worth millions.

USKOK has launched an investigation into 14 people accused of influence peddling, bribery, illegal favouring, abuse of office and powers, and aiding and abetting in said crimes.

In an expanded investigation, Kovacevic is additionally charged that he had received information that he would be arrested and that he had used the time until his arrest to hide HRK 4.5 million at Goran Puklin’s, who claims that the money is his. After Puklin was included in the investigation, his wife Mirela Aleric-Puklin requested to be dismissed from the post of deputy state attorney.