ZAGREB, July 9, 2020 – A former director of the Tax Administration and Social Democratic Party (SDP) member of Parliament, Nada Cavlovic Smiljanec, was sentenced to two years in prison on Thursday for prolonging the collection of tax debt from Osijek businessman Zeljko Bilos.
Bilos, whose company OLT was granted an extension of debt payment, which deprived the state budget of HRK 9.5 million, received four years and six months in prison. The former head of the Tax Administration’s Osijek office, Ruzica Kovacevic, got three years.
The indictment says that Cavlovic Smiljanec, using her authority as the director of the Tax Administration, instructed Kovacevic not to implement the enforcement order, which allowed Bilos’s company to continue operating until the launch of a pre-bankruptcy settlement procedure in May 2013. This also prevented enforcement proceedings from being initiated.
The accused pleaded not guilty and rejected the charges.