Predrag Vuletic arrested over 130.9 million dinars
Vojvodina's secretary for social policy and a tender commission chair were arrested on orders of Novi Sad prosecutors. Aid for a third child allegedly went to people without the right to it.
The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad announced on Thursday, November 5, that two people have been arrested on suspicion of securing an unlawful benefit of 130,900,000 dinars for others while awarding grants to families with a third or fourth child. The two are the provincial secretary for social policy, demography and gender equality, identified by the initials P.V., and the chair of a commission at the Provincial Secretariat, identified as D.M. Media outlets, among them N1 and 021.rs, report that the secretary is Predrag Vuletic.
This is the first arrest of a sitting member of the Vojvodina Provincial Government. We have so far reported on arrests of directors of republic-level institutions, not of a provincial secretary, and the alleged mechanism is new as well: prosecutors claim recipients received money although they did not have three or four children.
What do prosecutors allege?
Both are charged with continued abuse of office. The prosecutors said that “in the course of the actions taken so far in the pre-investigation proceedings” it was established that “there are grounds for suspicion” that the suspects, as officials, abused their position and powers and “secured an unlawful material benefit of 130,900,000 dinars for other individuals”.
Prosecutors give the same amount as the damage to the budget of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. According to the statement, the individuals who received the funds did not meet even the basic condition of the tender, which is the birth of a third and/or fourth child.
Which tender is at issue?
The tender is aimed at families in which a third or fourth child is born. The funds are non-refundable and are awarded to resolve housing needs or improve living conditions in Vojvodina. The suspicion covers four years, from 2021 to 2024, which means four tender cycles.
According to N1, Predrag Vuletic has held the post of provincial secretary for social policy, demography and gender equality since 2016. The commission that D.M. chaired, according to the statement, reviewed applications to the tender and examined applications for the allocation of funds.
What happens next?
The two have been ordered held for up to 48 hours. Within that period they are to be brought in and questioned at the Special Department for the Suppression of Corruption of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad.
The case is at the pre-investigation stage, so all allegations remain unconfirmed. Prosecutors speak of grounds for suspicion, not of established guilt, and both are presumed innocent until a final court ruling says otherwise. The statement, as relayed by N1, does not show how many families and recipients received the money or who is on the list.
