ZAGREB: Former Dinamo Zagreb Zdravko Mamic and his brother Zoran, the team’s coach, were charged Tuesday with “abuse of power and bribery” in a multi-million euro corruption case, prosecutors said.
A statement from the national anti-graft bureau USKOK said the Mamic brothers were charged along with one of the club’s former directors and a tax inspector.
The alleged offences cost the Croatian champions nearly 116 million kunas (15.5 million euros, $17.5 million) and the state budget 12 million kunas, the statement said.
Most of the money — more than 12 million euros — was illegally acquired by the Mamic brothers, according to the indictment.
The money was allegedly embezzled through fictitious deals related to player transfers.
Zdravko Mamic, considered the most powerful man in Croatian football, stepped down as Dinamo Zagreb executive director in February but said he would remain an advisor to the club.
The 56-year-old repeatedly argued that the probes against him were politically motivated “to destroy Dinamo and the Mamic family”.
Mamic became Dinamo Zagreb’s executive president in 2011 and he has held top positions in the club since the early 1990s.
With three more matches to be played in the national championship, the team have 76 points — four more than second-placed Rijeka.
Dinamo Zagreb have won 17 Croatian titles since the country became independent in 1991, including the last ten in a row.
