The SDP president was questioned by prosecutors, but the criminal complaint against him has been rejected.
Jutarnji List on Sunday brings front page news that SDP president Zoran Milanović has been reported to the State Attorney’s Office because he had demanded that his friend Igor Knežević was to receive 15,000 kuna per month through fictitious contracts, report Jutarnji List and Index.hr on July 17, 2016.
Mladen Hrgarek, owner of the Madison PR agency, reported Milanović to the State Attorney’s Office on suspicion of money laundering. The prosecutors rejected his criminal complaint and Hrgarek is now demanding the review of the process from Attorney General Dinko Cvitan.
According to Jutarnji list, Hrgarek alleges that Milanović conditioned the extension of the contract with the agency with continued monthly payments to Knežević. The money that was paid to Madison were budgetary funds which SDP receives from the state as a parliamentary political party. The alleged activities took place several years ago, but Hrgarek only now reported them to the authorities.
“I have known Igor Knežević for 30 years and claims that he was paying for my skiing trips with this money are insulting insinuations. I have never spoken with Hrgarek about Knežević”, Milanović reportedly said during a recent police interview about the charges.
Speaking to Index.hr, Mladen Hrgarek said late yesterday evening that he did not give his statements to the media, but to state institutions. “It is obvious that the whole story has been leaked from institutions in which I answered the questions”, said Hrgarek and thus confirmed that he did give statements about Milanović.
The State Attorney’s Office reportedly questioned Milanović, Knežević and SDP official Gordan Maras in the last few weeks about this issue, and in the end rejected Hrgarek’s accusations.
With elections less than two months away, it can be expected that additional alleged scandals about various parties and politicians will find its way to the media.
