Paško Dodić and Željko Teufel were brought to the USKCO offices in Zagreb’s Branimirova Street, as learned in a new operation linked to the investigation into illegal waste disposal and burial in Gospić, Benkovac and Senj. Both are included in the expanded investigation, and after police processing, they were brought to USKCO where investigators are to question them.
The police, this morning on the order of USKCO, launched into arrests and the execution of urgent evidence-gathering measures in the areas of Zagreb, Karlovac, Čakovec and Senj. Investigators suspect serious environmental offences committed by the group in a criminal association. Following the questioning, USKCO will decide on the next steps and the possible request for remand in custody.
Paško Dodić is a jeweller and entrepreneur from Zagreb, and is the owner of land in Benkovac Sel where, according to expert findings, at least 6,427 tons of various waste have been deposited. This is a former quarry in which plastic, rubber, textile, metal and construction waste and other materials were found. Dodić’s name had appeared in previously gathered communications of the suspects, and in one of the intercepted conversations, Josip Šincek mentioned that Dodić had already agreed on the handling of documentation and work at the site in Benkovac. Dodić’s wife, Franciska Dodić, had already been included in the earlier investigation along with Josip and Monika Šincek, but Paško Dodić was not among the suspects at that time.
Željko Teufel is a member of the board of Cezar, one of the largest companies in the Cios group of Petar Pribić. Cezar, in this case, had previously appeared in connection with the business relationship with Tip Resurs of Josip and Monika Šincek, and the transport of waste from its plant in Sisak. According to the findings of the investigators, Cezar was selling waste plastic to the Šinceks and organising and paying for its transport. A part of this waste, which according to documentation should have ended up in Gospić or Varaždin, according to the suspicions of the investigators, was ending up in the quarry in Benkovac, and most of the waste found on Dodić’s land had come from the Cez plant in Sisak.
The expansion of the investigation, according to unofficial information, includes Cez as a legal entity. Among the persons included in the investigation are the director of the Komunalni poduzeće Senj, Snježana Tomljanović, and Toni Žunić from the same company. In the area of Čakovec, Dorian Šipoš, a supervisory engineer linked to the Benkovac site, was also arrested, whose name also appears in the intercepted communications on the documentation and work on the site where the waste ended up.
