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