ZAGREB:
A Croatian Olympic Committee official arrested over alleged corruption has quit, the body said Friday in the latest fallout from a graft scandal at the country’s ski federation.
The arrest comes as investigators seek the extradition of former alpine ski director Vedran Pavlek, who is currently held in Kazakhstan, over allegations that he led a scheme that siphoned off nearly 30 million euros ($35 million) from the national ski federation – a case that has shocked the country.
The director of the committee’s Olympic programme, Damir Segota, and his wife were arrested on Thursday, their lawyers confirmed.
The pair were questioned, and the wife was released.
Searches were carried out in the Olympic Committee offices of Segota and secretary general Sinisa Krajac.
Investigators questioned the latter as a witness, and no criminal proceedings had been launched against him, the committee said earlier.
Segota was remanded in one-month detention on Friday over concerns he could influence witnesses.
“Individual cases must not cast a shadow on the thousands of athletes, coaches, sports workers and national sports federations who, with their work, contribute to the development of Croatian sport every day,” the committee said in a statement announcing Segota’s resignation.
In March, prosecutors launched an investigation into six people, including Pavlek. He was later arrested in Kazakhstan.
On Friday, prosecutors said they had expanded the investigation with allegations of bribery and money laundering, adding Segota as another suspect.
Pavlek, the prime suspect in the affair, allegedly bribed Segota to “unlawfully favour” the ski federation, a prosecutors’ statement said.
Prosecutors allege that the ski federation’s funding was then increased by more than two million euros.
Segota is suspected of receiving at least 160,000 euros in cash bribes through an intermediary, as well as nearly 10,000 euros for his son’s scholarship.
He attempted to conceal the alleged illegal gains by purchasing investment gold, the statement said.
The scandal has already triggered the resignation of long-time Olympic Committee head Zlatko Matesa.
“This whole matter must be fully cleared up, there can be no doubt about that,” Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic told reporters on Friday.
“It is clear that there were individuals who abused their positions within the sports system.”
Pavlek’s tenure marked Croatia’s most successful era in skiing when siblings Janica and Ivica Kostelic won 10 Olympic medals.
The country of just 3.8 million people boasts remarkable sporting successes — from Olympic gold medallists to football World Cup finalists.
But with virtually no domestic ski infrastructure, the Kostelic siblings’ achievements were a particular source of national pride.
