TWENTY SIX ARRESTED FOR CORRUPTION IN LAND

C O N F I D E N T I A L ZAGREB 001092 SIPDIS SIPDIS EUR/SCE E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/19/2017 TAGS: ECON KCOR HR SUBJECT: TWENTY SIX ARRESTED FOR CORRUPTION IN LAND REGISTRY STING REF: ZAGREB 593 AND 643 Classified By: Econ Officer N. Berliner for reasons 1.4 b/d. ¶1. (C) Summary: The Croatian Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organized Crime (USKOK) arrested 26 people on December 11 following a year-long corruption sting in the Zagreb land registry office. The accused include six employees of the land registry, several court officials, lawyers and private citizens who are charged with offering and receiving bribes in exchange for expedited property registrations. This operation is the second major corruption bust in Croatia this year. USKOK Director Dinko Cvitan told Econ Off that these operations are only the beginning of an on-going campaign to tackle corruption in Croatia that enjoys the full support of the country's political leadership. End Summary. ¶2. (U) Croatia's anti-corruption office USKOK carried out its second large-scale corruption sting operation this year on December 11. The operation, dubbed "Gruntovec" for its connection to the Zagreb land registry office (gruntovnica in Croatian),was conducted over the course of a year and resulted in the arrest of 26 suspects. Of those arrested, 13 are either lawyers or government employees connected to the land registry, while the others are private citizens. Those arrested are charged with giving and receiving bribes of up to 5,000 euros to expedite the registration of property and the issuance of deeds, a procedure that can take months or years in Croatia. ¶3. (C) In a December 14 meeting with Econ Off, USKOK Director Dinko Cvitan said the Gruntovec operation was made possible by close cooperation between USKOK, the police and Croatia's security services. USKOK initiated the operation as a result of citizens' reports of malfeasance in the land registry. Unlike this summer's arrests at the privatization fund in operation "Maestro", this operation did not rely on informants, but rather was carried out using electronic surveillance. To avoid leaks that could tip off any of the suspects, the operation was kept close-hold among only a dozen officials and technical staff in the security services. ¶4. (C) When asked whether these arrests were simply the result of an ad hoc operation or part of a planned campaign against corruption, Cvitan said that this was certainly part of USKOK's plan, noting that we could expect several more high-profile cases early next year. He said the principle reason for USKOK's recent successes is that there is political will in Croatia to tackle corruption, which was not the case several years ago. Cvitan said that all of his requests to the government of PM Sanader for operational funds (i.e. cash for informants to pay bribes with) have been honored with no questions asked about the nature of the operations or those involved. ¶5. (C) Comment: This year's corruption arrests are good news for Croatia and an indication of the new vigor with which USKOK is operating. What remains to be seen, however, is how long this will be sustained and, more importantly, how high future operations might reach. Those arrested in operations "Gruntovec" and "Maestro" included public officials of fairly low rank with few or no political connections. The Croatian public tends to believe that "the fish rots from the head." Consequently, some observers dismiss these arrests as diversions for foreign consumption. Nevertheless, an increasingly successful and emboldened USKOK is a positive development that could provide it with enough political cover to move up the corruption food chain. End Comment. BRADTKE