The State Anti-Corruption Agency (Uskok) issued a decision on Tuesday to open an investigation into a 55-year-old Croatian citizen on suspicion of bribery, abuse of position and authority, and forgery of an official or business document. The suspect is Dražen Kinderman, a member of the Kutina City Council and chair of the Repušnica local council.
Kinderman is suspected of taking 200 euros in bribes to enable a person convicted of a traffic violation to avoid community service. As the chair of a local council in the City of Kutina, he was authorised to supervise the execution of community service and maintain records of the hours completed by offenders in misdemeanor proceedings. He demanded 200 euros from the individual ordered to perform this work in exchange for allowing them to avoid it.
Knowing that the individual had not performed the community service, Kinderman drafted and signed a letter from the local council falsely stating that the work had been completed, and submitted it to the competent court. He took the money from the aforementioned person, and the alleged offence was committed between 1 and 9 November in Kutina.
The person from whom Kinderman allegedly demanded the money reported the incident to the police. In cooperation with investigators, a handover of the cash was arranged, during which Kinderman was arrested on Monday, 9 November, at a catering establishment in Kutina. Uskok will propose to the investigating judge at the Zagreb County Court that pre-trial detention be ordered for Kinderman.
Kinderman is one of the co-defendants in proceedings against Kutina mayor Zlatko Babić, which are being conducted due to the Eko Moslavina affair. According to the Uskok indictment, Kinderman, then an independent city councilor, allegedly agreed with Babić between November 2019 and April 2020 that his son would get a job at the municipal utility company Eko Moslavina in exchange for political support for the mayor during votes on the city budget and its amendments.
According to the indictment, after Kinderman supported Babić's proposals in the City Council, the then-mayor asked Eko Moslavina director Adriana Cvrtile to employ Kinderman's son. Cvrtile publicly spoke about alleged political pressures and favouritism in hiring at the municipal company, and the Eko Moslavina affair erupted in 2021.
In that proceeding, the primary defendant is the current mayor of Kutina, Zlatko Babić, and the indictment against Babić, Kinderman and two other accused was confirmed in November 2024. The trial began in February 2025, and all defendants pleaded not guilty at the start of the trial.
In the 2025 local elections, Kinderman appeared on the candidate list of a voter group led by Zlatko Babić. He was fourth on the list and was re-elected as a member of the Kutina City Council. Babić also appointed him as the chair of the Supervisory Board of the municipal company Komunalni servisi Kutina.
