Corruption investigation in Ljubljana: 42 house searches, 20 suspects, damage exceeding €50,000
Ljubljana criminal investigators carried out 42 house searches on 28 May due to suspected corruption in the operations of a local government body. The total value of documented material benefits exceeds €50,000.
Corruption investigation: dealings with local government in exchange for kitchens, construction work and employment
Ljubljana criminal investigators, on Thursday, 28 May 2026, with the assistance of investigators from the National Investigation Bureau (NPU) and criminal police from the police directorates of Celje, Maribor, Koper, Novo Mesto, Nova Gorica, Kranj and Murska Sobota, conducted an extensive investigative operation. According to police.si, 42 house searches were carried out across a wider area of Ljubljana, Kranj, Maribor and Postojna at the residences of 20 natural persons, six legal entities and at a local government body.
A pre-trial proceeding is underway on well-founded suspicion of the commission of more than 20 corruption-related criminal offences—including bribery and acceptance of bribes, acceptance of benefits for unlawful intermediation and giving gifts for unlawful intermediation. A total of 20 natural persons and one legal entity are suspected.
Detention and release
As part of the operation, two persons were deprived of their liberty and were brought before an investigating judge of the District Court in Ljubljana on 29 May with criminal charges. The judge ordered judicial detention for both. A day later, on 30 May, the suspects were released following interrogation. Court proceedings have already been initiated against one of them.
More than one hundred criminal investigators participated in the operation in total.
Kitchens, construction work and fictitious employment
The investigation, which began in 2024, revealed that several mutually connected suspects carried out corruption-related criminal offences in business dealings between a local government body and a large number of legal and natural entities.
Mitja Bartolme, mag., from the Economic Crime Department at Ljubljana Police Directorate, explained: "Based on evidence gathered so far, we have well-founded suspicion that the suspects, in exchange for the conclusion of business deals and the adoption of official acts by the local government body in their favour, gave various forms of gifts, such as the supply and installation of kitchens, various construction and craft work in the construction of a residential house, and employment for which there are reasons to suspect that they did not have genuine work content."
Bartolme added that specific instances of such exchanges were identified at multiple levels. A contract of employment for a natural person in a senior position at the local government body was apparently concluded in exchange for the construction and equipping of a residential house and its surroundings. For the adoption of another official act, the conclusion of a contract for the provision of services at a business entity and the supply of a high-end kitchen were demanded. It was also established that gifts of higher value for the arrangement of a residential house were received as reciprocal favours in exchange for the conclusion of a concession agreement between the local government body and a legal entity.
The total value of documented material benefits to date exceeds €50,000.
Confiscated electronics and entire kitchen
Criminal investigators confiscated a large number of electronic devices, data and documentation that will subsequently be reviewed and evaluated. Among the confiscated items was an entire kitchen that had been received as a gift.
Investigative activities will continue with the examination of the confiscated material. The police will inform the Specialised State Prosecution Office, which is directing the pre-trial proceeding, of all findings.
For accepting a bribe, a sentence of up to eight years' imprisonment is prescribed; for giving a bribe, up to six years; for accepting benefits for unlawful intermediation and giving gifts for unlawful intermediation, up to four years' imprisonment.
"Corruption is not a victimless crime"
Dr David Smolej from the Corruption Department at the General Police Directorate, in presenting the case, drew attention to the wider consequences of corruption: "Although the direct victims are often not visible, the consequences are borne by society as a whole—through more expensive projects, worse public services and reduced trust in institutions. Particularly problematic is the corruption of holders of public office, as it represents an abuse of position and trust that was granted to them by citizens. Every case of such corruption directly undermines the foundations of the rule of law and the democratic system."
Following the presentation of the case, Smolej also cited statistical data on the extent of corruption investigations in Slovenia. According to him, the police have, on average, issued criminal charges per year for approximately 120 corruption-related criminal offences over the past five years. By the time the statement was issued this year, charges had already been filed for 77 such criminal offences.
Smolej also highlighted a high level of self-initiated corruption detection: over the past six years, the police have discovered almost 90 per cent of all criminal offences for which criminal charges have been filed. "A large part of these criminal offences we discover through our own work of criminal investigators, which includes gathering information," he emphasised.
Source: Google News SI — Crime (sl)