Croatian Environmental Fund Lost Over €1 Million in Waste Packaging Fraud

Prosecutors at the County State Attorney's Office in Bjelovar have charged five individuals with defrauding the Fund for Protection of Environment and Energy Efficiency of more than €1 million and causing a loss of about €1.2 million. From 2019 to mid‑2024 the suspects – a company manager born in 1980, a man born in 1970, a woman born in 1975, a fund employee born in 1969 and a further accomplice – allegedly falsified data on collected waste packaging in the Virovitica, Požega and Gradina areas. They forged business documents, entered false inventory figures into the fund’s system and submitted the fabricated records for reimbursement. The proceeds were allegedly laundered through betting winnings and the purchase and resale of real‑estate, including a flat bought in the name of a 1998‑born relative. The court has proposed confiscating the illicitly obtained assets from the accused.