The County Court in Zagreb ordered pre-trial detention on Friday for Ivica Devčić, former head of the Independent Sector for Public Procurement at the Ministry of Defence, and Alma Boch, owner of the company Design Vision. According to N1, the court ordered detention due to the risk of reoffending and influencing witnesses.
The two suspects were arrested the previous day in an anti-corruption operation by the State Attorney's Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime (USKOK), involving the military police. The prosecution has opened an investigation against them on suspicion of illegal favouritism in the procurement of military equipment.
USKOK suspects that Devčić and Boch agreed from July 2018 to March 2019 that her company would receive contracts from the Ministry of Defence. This concerns the procurement of 260 pairs of military boots for the Armed Forces, valued at €42,390. To avoid the standard public procurement procedure, Devčić allegedly split the contract into two simple procurement procedures with values below the legal threshold, sending call-for-tenders only to selected companies, including Design Vision.
When the company's bid in the first procedure exceeded the permitted threshold, the prosecution suspects that Devčić ordered the quantity to be reduced from 150 to 127 pairs of boots, with the remainder procured in the second procedure. The contracts were worth more than €62,000 in total, while Design Vision is accused of receiving an improper benefit of €25,960.
Devčić's lawyer, Dražen Gazda, stated that his client denied guilt and believed the entire procedure had been conducted in accordance with the Public Procurement Act. "He is completely convinced of his innocence, which is why he has opted for an active defence," Gazda said, announcing an appeal against the decision on pre-trial detention.
Minister of Defence Ivan Anušić stated that the arrested employee would face a statutory procedure within the ministry, including suspension from service and removal from his post.
