Trial Delayed for Group Accused of Fraudulently Obtaining and Selling Other People’s Apartments

The long-awaited trial of Krešo Matić and 13 co-defendants has been postponed before it began, after procedural problems disrupted proceedings at Zagreb County Court.

Some summonses had not been properly delivered, while several defendants withdrew powers of attorney from their previous lawyers. A new hearing is expected to be scheduled soon, nearly three years after charges were filed.

USKOK alleges that the defendants operated as a criminal association that defrauded people in apartment sales between November 2019 and April 2022. Prosecutors say the group gathered information about deceased people who left behind property, or whose inheritances had not been distributed for other reasons. Members then allegedly forged the documents needed to sell the apartments.

The indictment describes a division of labor. Some members obtained the necessary information, others falsified paperwork, and another person guarded properties that the group had unlawfully registered in its name. The proceeds from apartment sales were divided according to each member’s role.

Matić allegedly operated from an office on Ban Jelačić Square that housed his company. USKOK says the premises helped create an appearance of legality, particularly because a law office also operated there. Eight of his co-defendants have pleaded guilty and reached agreements with prosecutors, receiving mainly suspended sentences and additional fines.

The case also recalls an earlier conviction involving Matić. In that proceeding, a group was accused of fraudulently selling fictitious apartments after collecting property information. The defendants received a combined 22 years and eight months in prison and lost 17.8 million kuna. In 2013, Matić was given a non-final sentence of four years and 10 months, in a retrial concerning alleged offenses from 2005 to 2009.