Nadan Vidošević, former Chamber of Commerce boss convicted of corruption

The former president of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, Nadan Vidošević, was sentenced on Wednesday to eight years in prison for corruption.

Vidošević was found guilty of embezzling 35 and a half million kuna of the Chamber's money in a case dubbed the “Remorker” affair that began with his arrest in 2013. His close associate, Zdenka Peternel, was sentenced to two years. The Chamber’s former chief accountant, Josipa Miladinov, and her deputy, Jasna Mikić, were acquitted. The case hinged on testimony from two associates who struck plea bargains and testified as witnesses for the prosecution. The verdicts are not final and can be appealed.

"The court has determined that defendant Vidošević, as president of the Chamber of Commerce, organized a group that was created to commit crimes at the expense of the Chamber. The Court finds that the members of the group were, besides him, Zdenka Peternel and Davor Komerički,” said Judge Zdravko Majerović, the presiding judge on the panel that delivered the verdict.

The lawyer representing Vidošević, Jadranka Sloković, said her client planned to appeal and described the verdict as deeply flawed.

“The court believed a person who confessed to having committed a crime with other individuals. This is inadmissible. The court reasoned to believe Davor Komerički, whom we caught in numerous lies and contradictory statements,” Sloković said.

Komerečki was one of the witnesses who received a plea deal.

Vidošević’s arrest in 2013 received widespread media attention in part due to reporting on what investigators found in his three-story home in an exclusive Zagreb neighborhood. The house was filled with works of art and had a basement packed with stuffed hunting trophies, including a polar bear. Vidošević, a high-profile public figure, former member of the HDZ, had a reputation for living a lavish lifestyle and being an avid big-game hunter. He presented himself as a self-made businessman but reporting on his rise to power suggests otherwise. Many of his assets were seized and remain under the control of the state.