Witness: I was told to return the unsigned aid payment order where I found it

A former Croatian Economy Ministry employee told a Zagreb county court that she found an unsigned order to pay grants and was instructed to put it back where she had found it.

Adela Renka said the incident occurred in December 2018, before the state treasury closed for the year. She had taken papers from a box in a hallway and brought them to the accounting department. When the head of accounting asked whose papers they were, Renka said she did not know. The manager replied that she thought she knew and told Renka to return them.

The documents included an unsigned payment order and a table listing about 20 entities. Three of them had been denied grants, Renka testified. She was the head of a program supporting small and medium-sized businesses and crafts in areas populated by members of national minorities.

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It was December 2018, and I remember that because the state treasury closes in mid-December, which means everything must be paid before it closes.

Renka said the program received about 400 applications and awarded grants to 95 entities. Her duties included instructing staff who checked and processed applications and generated data. She was supposed to compile a ranked table of eligible applicants, but said her supervisor, Adriano Šafran, ultimately did that because she was working on another project. She was unsure who prepared the contracts, but said she and senior ministry officials had to sign them.

The testimony forms part of the case known as “By Family and Uncle Connections.” The State Attorney’s Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime, known as USKOK, alleges that then-Economy Minister Darko Horvat and Ana Mandac unlawfully awarded 2.6 million kuna in grants to businesses in which he had a personal interest. Prosecutors accuse Milošević and Tolušić of pressing officials on behalf of companies they favored. Aladrović allegedly intervened in two unlawful hires while heading the Croatian Pension Insurance Institute, and Horvat allegedly encouraged him, personally or through Mandac.

Mandac initially faced charges but admitted guilt under a USKOK agreement. A sentence of 11 months in prison was replaced with community service. Velimir Žunec and Katica Mišković also pleaded guilty and were convicted. A state audit conducted after the grant competition found no irregularities, Renka said.

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I did not know.