Accused Aussie conwoman Adriana Matak released from Croatian prison

Alleged Aussie fraudster Adriana Matak, who is six months pregnant, wiped away tears as a judge released her from custody.

A pregnant Adriana Matak sobbed in court as she was conditionally released from jail while she and her husband face fraud charges in Croatia totalling A$575,504.81.

The six-months pregnant Sydney travel blogger left the Municipal Criminal Court in Zagreb free from handcuffs and wiping tears from her face after the judge said she should not return to her hospital prison cell.

She and her husband Luka Matak, 31, – who both arrived in court in handcuffs – pleaded separately “not guilty” to five charges of fraud and of falsely convincing their victims that their money was invested in the stock markets during a reported an alleged five-year scheme ending in their arrest in September 2023.

Wearing a casual polo neck jumper and leggings and without makeup, Mrs Matak, 36, was barely recognisable as she sat through their first trial hearing away from her accused husband at the back of court room 224.

Asked by judge Iris Juzbašić Gabron if the couple own any assets which the alleged five victims want to sell to pay back their purported losses, Mrs Matak replied in Croatian: “I only had moveable property, everything I owned was confiscated by the police after my arrest.”

Mr Matak said he was self-employed through his own company TMG Private Wealth and earned a monthly income of 5,000 euros (A$8,215.38 ) and his only asset was a share in the company.

“I have no assets,” he said.

Luka and Adriana Matak have appeared in a Zagreb court. Picture: Supplied

Mrs Matak, who is pregnant with the couple’s second child, was released from jail on condition she resides at her registered home address in Croatia, hands in her passport and identity documents and reports regularly at a local police station.

Smirking at times during the hearing former Sydney barman Mr Matak, a self-proclaimed hedge fund director, was remanded at Remetinec jail and shuffled out the court building through the rear doors in handcuffs and leg chains.

The Municipal Criminal Court in Zagreb heard their high-profile Croatian lawyer Jadranka Slokovic and partner Čedo Prodranović apply for the release of the couple from pre-trial detention but only Mrs Matak’s plea was accepted.

Two Australian Embassy officials and two interpreters were present at the hearing.

The couple is accused of conning five investors including a British businessman and their own lawyer Australian Don Markusic, 58, who is originally from Melbourne.

On February 19 the court will call the indicted injured parties to be cross examined.

Marko Bohacek, a partner in law firm BDV Legal in the Croatian capital Zagreb, is representing the five investors, and a further seven alleged victims from Australia, America, Canada, the UK and Croatia who have filed fraud complaints and are waiting to hear from the Prosecutor’s Office.

“Many more injured parties have not come forward and I suspect the damage encountered is a lot more than the 350,000 euros (A$575,504.81.), we’re probably talking about millions,” Mr Bohacek said.

The Zagreb Prosecutor’s Office filed five charges of fraud jointly against the Mataks, with the intention of unlawfully obtaining substantial property benefits, and defrauding their victims 350,000 euros (A$575,504.81.)

People who invested millions of dollars with the pair claim their investments funded their outlandish lifestyle staying in luxury hotels in Dubai, Croatia and London and paid for their designer clothes including expensive Savile Row suits.

Before her relocation to Croatia, Mrs Matak allegedly worked as a hostess in a high-end gentlemen’s club in London.

She has also opened up on previous struggles with alcohol and addiction in a piece for Life as a Human magazine in 2020.

“I am open about my new journey and past struggles because I know what it’s like to contemplate taking your own life and I know what it’s like to look for any reason not to,” she wrote.

“It’s ironic because as a travel blogger I always looked for the road less travelled and as an addict, sought the road most had already travelled.

“I am living proof that you can turn your life around and live the life of your dreams, you just need to give yourself a real honest chance.”

MATAKS’ ‘$39K OFFER TO LAWYER’

Accused con merchants Adriana and Luka Matak convinced their lawyer to invest $39,000 into the oil market at the start of the Ukraine-Russia war and later called from prison to ask if he would represent them, it has been claimed.

Former Melbourne lawyer Don Markusic, 58, said former Sydney barman Luka Matak, a self-professed hedge fund director, encouraged him to invest in oil stocks promising a 20 per cent profit and insisting “now is the time to invest.”

Mr Matak, 31, and his pregnant wife Adriana, 36, are due to appear at their first trial

hearing on Thursday at the Municipal Criminal Court in Zagreb, accused of five counts of fraud totalling $575,504.81.

“It’s difficult for me to talk about it, people will think I’m a lawyer and I was greedy for money – but Luka was a friend and client for many years and encouraged me to support his business, saying it would be beneficial for both of us,” Mr Markusic, 58, said.

“I had helped other Australians in Croatia and agreed to invest short term a total of 24,000 euros ($A39,000), it’s not peanuts but it’s not as much as some people have lost, I was shocked to hear some had lost several hundred thousand euros,” he said.

“I had never invested in the share market before and he said now is the right time as the price of oil was going up.

“At first I declined, I did not want to make money when people were suffering in a war, but he was persuasive and he was a friend as well as a client, so I invested. I let my guard down because he was a friend.”

Travel blogger Mrs Matak, who is pregnant with the couple’s second child, has been transferred to the Prison Hospital in Zagreb while her husband remains at Remetinec jail.

Former Melbourne lawyer Don Markusic, who lives in Croatia, alleges he was tricked by Luka Matak into investing in oil shares. Picture: Facebook

The couple have hired a high-profile Croatian lawyer famed for representing a millionaire footballer and corrupt prime minister Jadranka Slokovic and her famous partner Čedo Prodanović.

Croatian based Mr Markusic said Mr Matak would send him photographs of money transfers to his bank account from profits he believed he had earned from his investments but no money ever arrived, he said.

He cancelled the transactions before they were processed, Mr Markusic claimed.

“The night before he was arrested he was scared spitless, he called me asking for legal advice on how his father could transfer a house he owned in Croatia into his name to pay off gangsters who had knocked at his door asking for money for their client – I advised him to give it back and asked ‘where’s my money?’” he said.

The couple have hired a high-profile Croatian lawyer. Picture: Supplied

The day the couple was arrested in September 2023, Mr Markusic received a call from Mr Matak’s mobile number from prison.

“I asked ‘what’s going on Luka?’ but it was a cop who answered saying Luka asked if I would come down to the police station where they were both locked up to represent him,” he said.

“I told the officer I can’t represent them, I’m an injured party, they scammed me too.

“I have spoken to police extensively about them and the callous thing they agree over is that they are not like bank robbers who steal from strangers, even worse, they steal from friends.”

“I want to look him in the eye in court and see them in handcuffs for what they have done to everyone.”

Adriana Kupresak is now pregnant with her second child.

Marko Bohacek, a partner in law firm BDV Legal in the Croatian capital Zagreb, is representing five investors (an Australian-Croatian lawyer and four Croatians) and a further seven victims from Australia, America, Canada, the UK and Croatia who have filed fraud complaints and are waiting to hear from the Prosecutor’s Office if they have cases to answer.

“Many more injured parties have not come forward and I suspect the damage encountered is a lot more than the 350,000 euros ($A575,504.81.), we’re probably talking about millions,” Mr Bohacek said.

The Zagreb Prosecutor’s Office filed five charges of fraud jointly against the couple, with the intention of unlawfully obtaining substantial property benefits, and defrauding their victims 350,000 euros ($A575,504.81.), dating from October 2018 to September 2023

The couple strenuously deny the charges and maintain they attempted to pay investors their profits but encountered problems with the banks

People who invested millions of dollars with Mr Matak suspect that their money funded the couple’s lavish lifestyle staying in luxury hotels in Dubai, Croatia and London and afforded them designer clothes including expensive Savile Row suits.

Originally published as Accused Aussie conwoman Adriana Matak released from Croatian prison