In late April 2011, Požareport.si revealed that Mariborpolice departmenthad been, for the past six months, investigating an illegal betting organization and six individuals, four of which were from the Maribor area and had already been taken into custody. The police also revealed that two other collaborators were still at large and that one of those was Goran Šukalo, who allegedly invested over €1.9 million in the organization, in 2011, the majority of which he collected from other professional players. Šukalo categorically denied his involvement in the matter, however, it was revealed by the media and the police that investigators had been tapping the phones of the four persons in custody at the time and had recorded a conversation between Šukalo and the leader of the illegal organization when Šukalo revealed that another football player, Nastja Čeh, was still owing him €73,000 and was avoiding payment. Požareport.si published that the police did not have evidence that Šukalo was involved in match fixing, however, they did have the evidence that he was collecting and investing money in the organization because of which he could face between one and eight years in prison. It was still unclear, though, if Šukalo was also being investigated by the German police who recently made a search of his house in Germany, where he was living. In any case, it is strictly forbbiden by the UEFA, the Football Association of Slovenia and the German Football Association for any player to gamble, let alone to invest in illegal bookies. On 11 May 2011, Šukalo had his first preliminary hearing in Maribor district court where he denied his implications and pleaded not guilty. From the criminal charges, written on 49 pages, it was clear that Šukalo was betting with Kosta Turner frequently and that he had made a total of just under €1.7 million of bets in the illegal betting organization. In January 2012 the general prosecutor on the District Court in Maribor made an indictment of six individuals, written on 30 pages, one of them being Šukalo. Šukalo was said to be the leader of the German part of the illegal betting organization from Maribor and that he was recruiting new members among other football players and friends from Germany. The organization allegedly accepted a total of €43 million worth of bets in two years with €5.5 million coming from Šukalo, which he placed in his name for him and his customers. Once again Šukalo publicly denied his implications and stated that he had nothing to do with the organization. On 18 April 2013, the District Court in Maribor announced its decision on the matter and Šukalo was acquitted of all charges. Although Šukalo admitted gambling on football, he was found not guilty in participating in the illegal betting organization. The prosecutor Bojana Podgorelec, which has demanded one year and eight months prison sentence for Šukalo, announced that the prosecution will appeal the court's decision. Kosta Turner, Vasja Turner, Ivan Vinko pleaded guilty and received between three and two and a half years in prison, while Zvonko Hajšek was found guilty and received a sentence of two years in prison. Šukalo's advocate, Franci Matoz, was pleased with the verdict, however, he did state how the Court and the Prosecution managed to "destroy his client's career".
