CLEVELAND, Ohio — A jury in federal court here has convicted construction company owner Svetislav Vujovic on 14 counts for his role in the
Vujovic, 42, was convicted Wednesday of bank fraud, bribery, money laundering and lying to federal agents in executing a $3 million fraud against the now-defunct Eastlake credit union that was shuttered in 2010.
Nearly 20 defendants have been convicted of crimes in the St. Paul case stemming from fraudulent loans masterminded by former CEO Anthony Raguz.
Raguz is serving a 14-year prison sentence for bank fraud, bribery and money laundering, accounting for more than $72 million in losses. Total losses from the St. Paul failure exceed $180 million.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Boyko scheduled sentencing for Aug. 19. He allowed Vujovic to remain free on bond until then, although he will be kept under house arrest and must wear an electronic monitoring device.
The trial also marked the first case in which Raguz testified against one of the case's defendants. Raguz's testimony was key to Vujovic's bribery conviction, reported U.S. Attorney Steven Dettelbach.
According to the indictment, Vujovic paid bribes of more than $20,000 to Raguz.
"Obviously, the failure of the St. Paul Croatian Federal Credit Union was a tragedy for this community," Dettelbach told The Plain Dealer. "We are going to do everything in our power to make sure the people responsible for this will pay for their crimes. This was bank bribery on a huge scale."
