Witness: Vlasta Pavić ordered elevator installation, then cancelled it for mother's platform

A witness described how Vlasta Pavić, former mayor of Zagreb, allegedly cancelled an order for four elevators for the luxury Katino apartment project. Instead, she requested a mobile wheelchair platform be installed in her mother's house. The prosecution accuses Pavić and two co-defendants, Iva Franekić and Marijana Leinart, of economic fraud and document forgery.

Pavić, who served as mayor from 2002 to 2005, denies the charges. The alleged offenses occurred between March 2012 and November 2015, when Pavić was a manager at Mikado company, and Franekić was its director. The company was involved in building apartments for the Katino project.

According to the indictment, Pavić and Franekić are accused of improperly benefiting themselves, Pavić's mother, and Konstantin Veniaminovič Gološčapov, a figure reportedly described in media as Vladimir Putin's masseur. The estimated damage is around 100,000 euros. The wheelchair platform alone was valued at approximately 95,000 kuna.

Further accusations include Pavić instructing company employees to pay for furniture delivered to Gološčapov and arranging for Mikado to pay for renovations to her own apartment and one used by Franekić, falsely presenting them as project-related work worth 600,000 kuna. Mikado also allegedly paid for a kitchen for Marijana Leinart, valued at about 22,000 kuna, based on a falsified invoice.

The testimony of the expert witness, Ela Mihovilović Brkić, reportedly differed significantly from previous statements made by another witness, Natalija Oštarijaš.