USKOK indicts former finance officials over alleged bribery attempt in Mamić case

Croatia’s anti-corruption agency USKOK has indicted two former senior officials on charges of attempted bribery in connection with fugitive football executive Zdravko Mamić.

The indictments target Branko Šegon, a former assistant to the finance minister, and Tihomir Kralj, the former deputy chief of the Tax Administration. Prosecutors allege the two demanded €500,000 from Mamić in exchange for influencing ongoing criminal proceedings against him.

Mamić, the former director of Dinamo Zagreb, fled to Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2018 to avoid serving a prison sentence in Croatia. He cannot be extradited under current law.

Speaking publicly in Mostar earlier this year, Mamić claimed the pair had approached him multiple times with demands for cash.

“They said: ‘We’re ready to acquit you, but you have to give us €500,000.’ I told them, no problem, I’ll give you even more, but not in advance. After three failed attempts to get money upfront, they left and never contacted me again,” Mamić said.

Šegon previously served under SDP Finance Minister Slavko Linić but was dismissed in 2014 after it emerged that a company he co-owned had received a government loan during his tenure.

Kralj served as deputy to former Tax Administration head Nada Čavlović Smiljanec, who was sentenced in 2022 to one year in prison for delaying the collection of a multimillion-kuna tax debt from an Osijek businessman.

The indictments against Šegon and Kralj must still be confirmed by the courts before the case proceeds.