POVERTY SCHOLARSHIPS Son of Minister from Posušje Received Funds as a Social Case in Croatia

After exposing a wealthy family from Bosnia and Herzegovina who used the privileges of dual citizenship to secure a scholarship for their socio-economically disadvantaged child in Croatia, we have uncovered another similar case involving the son of an HDZ minister of economy in the West Herzegovina Canton, Dario Sesar. This minister is serving his third term and is also the deputy prime minister of the county government.

Luka Sesar, a student at the Faculty of Civil Engineering, Architecture, and Geodesy in Split, was found on the same list as Tomislav Kovačević, a descendant of the wealthy Ćićko family from Duvno that we exposed in June.

The young Sesar, born in 2003, a student from Posušje, resides in a student dormitory in Split and is ranked 319th among the recipients of this scholarship. The scholarship amount is 200 euros per month and is paid out over nine months. 

Luka Sesar was one of the top students at the  High School Posušje / PHOTO: Posusje.info. 

Scholarships for students from lower socio-economic backgrounds are awarded every year following a public competition based on the Regulations on the Conditions and Methods for Exercising the Right to a State Scholarship Based on Socio-Economic Status. These scholarships are available for the following categories: D-1 (for regular students in accordance with the Law on the Protection of War and Civilian War Invalids), E (for regular students from lower socio-economic backgrounds), and P (students with disabilities and students who are under guardianship or were under guardianship as children, or have been granted the right to social accommodation service or were granted the right to social accommodation service as children based on regulations in the field of social welfare, and are enrolled in postgraduate university studies).

The conditions for awarding an E category scholarship for students from lower socio-economic backgrounds include residence in Croatia, achieving a minimum of 1050 points on the ranking list, and family income per member below 1951.77 kn (517 KM/263 Euros).

Wealthy and Influential Parents

It was immediately clear that, given the fact that the minister's salary in this region is not less than 3000 KM, and considering that Sesar's wife is employed at the Public Health Institute of this region, and the minister received a stipend while serving as the president of HŠK Posušje and the president of the Driving Exam Commission, it is impossible that their monthly income is so low.

To clarify the situation, we called Dario Sesar to check if he knew that his son had received nearly 2000 euros in scholarships based on false testimony. The minister answered and first claimed that his son applied for a regular scholarship as the top student and added that he got a place in the student dormitory due to his title as the top student.

Then he denied that his son has a residence in Croatia at all and claimed that his political opponents are trying to discredit him.

"He is not registered in the Republic of Croatia at all, he only has temporary residence and there must be some mistake, he is registered in Posušje," Sesar said to Hercegovina.info.

"He did apply for a scholarship, but for the regular one that he would receive as the top student. I don't know why he was placed in this category, he is not registered in Croatia at all, they didn't ask for my income, they asked for his grades. They ask for my financial situation when applying for the student dormitory," Sesar continued.

When our journalist pointed out that the situation seems suspicious, Sesar said: "It's not suspicious to me, it's clear and obvious to me. I just don't know where these pieces of information are coming from. I will easily prove that he doesn't have a residence in Croatia. Someone is sending you this to tarnish my reputation, I don't need that in my life."

A day later, the Minister of Economy in the Government of West Herzegovina, Dario Sesar, issued a public statement regarding the inquiry from the Hercegovina.info portal about the scholarship used by his son in Croatia.

"As someone who has held responsible political and social roles for the last 10 years, I base my politics and every action on the principles of transparency and credibility. A few days ago, I received an inquiry from a media representative about the scholarship allegedly used by my son as a student at the Faculty of Civil Engineering, Architecture, and Geodesy. Of course, like every parent, I try to take care of my family."

Minister Claims to Have Returned the Money

"However, I did not have the requested information, so I asked my son and had a conversation with him, to which he responded that the topic of applying for a scholarship was opened among students simply by enrolling in college. He applied and was approved for it. By examining the entire situation and the type of scholarship, I came to the realization that due to his studies and application in the Republic of Croatia, where he lives independently as a student and where parents and other family members are not listed on the householdn registry, he qualified for a scholarship in the category of lower socio-economic status.

Upon learning this, I immediately contacted the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Croatia and returned the scholarship funds to the Croatian budget.

I want to apologize to the entire public for the mistake that led to this situation. Given that I have been holding political positions for a certain period of time, members of my family even cautiously exercise basic civil rights, including my son, a student who was among the top students in his high school class and was not a recipient of any scholarship.

Understanding the responsibility and valuing your trust, I felt the obligation to address you in this manner and once again emphasize the importance of transparency, which includes acknowledging and apologizing for mistakes," stated Minister Sesar in his press release.

How Do Such Reports Slip Under the Radar?

The first known public case of this kind was that of Darinko Mihaljević from Livno, a former Minister of Internal Affairs of the Herzeg-Bosnian Canton, whose three children received scholarships for students with lower financial status in Croatia. This a reminder of Žurnal’s discovery from 2017.

Darinko Mihaljević, PHOTO Žurnal.

Five years later, Hercegovina.info reveals the descendant of the Kovačević millionaires from Tomislavgrad who is receiving this scholarship, and now the name of another minister's son has been revealed.

The scholarship application process has been modernized, and in the Republic of Croatia, it is done electronically. The key evidence of family members' income is the "Statement of Household Members," which can be entered in two ways: by accessing data from official records of government bodies or by manually entering data.

For household members who are registered using data from the OIB System and who have a residence in Croatia, the income amount is 0.00 kn (Croatian kuna), or blank, and they do not need to submit proof of income from the relevant Tax Administration or proof of pension amount from the relevant pension institution according to the announcement. The Ministry will verify the data in the Tax Administration System.

An exception is made for students and household members who have a residence outside the Republic of Croatia, as they are required to provide proof of the total income from the relevant Tax Administration outside Croatia and enter the requested information in the columns "Income Type" and "Amount."

Statement of Household Members, https://drzavnestipendije.mzo.hr/Content/upute/Upute_stipendije.pdf

Despite this warning, out of nearly 12,000 scholarships, it is not realistic to expect that the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports of the Republic of Croatia will be able to verify each and every one of them.

In response to our inquiry about how such cases are handled, the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports of the Republic of Croatia stated for our portal:

"When applying for scholarships for students studying at higher education institutions in the Republic of Croatia, students under criminal and material liability fill out the Statement of Household Members as part of the electronic application form. The term 'Common household' refers to any community of persons, regardless of kinship, living together at the same address of residence in a living space with shared utility costs, earning and spending income together, and using movable and immovable property together to meet basic living needs.

In accordance with the aforementioned statement, for students with residence in the Republic of Croatia, the Ministry of Science and Education (hereinafter: the Ministry)
retrieves the annual income of all household members (including the student) from the official records of the Tax Administration of the Republic of Croatia.

Students with residence outside the Republic of Croatia are obligated to manually enter data on the total income earned in the previous calendar year for each household member (including the student) in the Statement of Household Members within the electronic application form. As evidence, they are required to submit certificates of the total income earned from the competent tax administration outside the Republic of Croatia for all household members, as well as certificates of the total amount of pension payments from the competent pension insurance institution outside the Republic of Croatia for household members who are pension beneficiaries for the previous year. Consequently, the Ministry retrieves and processes income data in the scholarship processing process in accordance with the records of competent authorities.

Furthermore, the acceptance of the Scholarship Terms and Conditions is considered an act of concluding an agreement. Every student who is eligible for a state scholarship confirms the accuracy of the entered data under criminal and material liability when accepting the Scholarship Terms and Conditions.

The Ministry conducts verification of the accuracy of the data based on which the student has gained the right to a state scholarship. If it is determined through subsequent verification that the data based on which the student has gained the right to a state scholarship is not accurate, the payment of the state scholarship to the student who has gained the right to it is suspended, and the student is obliged to return the funds that have been paid up to that point.

Additionally, in case of receiving official complaints from citizens, the Ministry forwards each report to the Ministry of the Interior and/or the Tax Administration for further action."

This is already the second scholarship obtained through providing false information that has been exposed by the Hercegovina.info portal, resulting in nearly 4,000 euros being returned to the budget of the Republic of Croatia.