In 1992, he was voted Manager of the Year (Small Businesses) by CROMA, The Croatian Managers Association[1][3] During the 1990s, Kutle's business empire expanded to include the companies Jadrantekstil, Slobodna Dalmacija, Radio Dalmacija, TV Marjan, Kastelanska Rivijera, Dalma, and Splitska banka.
The relationship between Kutle, the then President Franjo Tudjman, the ruling HDZ party and the non-transparency of the transactions has come under scrutiny in the Croatian courts a number of times since 2000.
In 1999, the Croatian Privatization Fund (Croatian: Hrvatski fond za privatizaciju, a government agency formed for the purpose of privatizing state-owned businesses)[4] confiscated the companies Diona, Jadrantekstil and Koteks, while Tisak and Slobodna Dalmacija were removed by court decisions.
[8] In June 2009, Kutle was again jailed by the first-instance court in Zagreb for a period of three years, for his involvement in the mismanagement of another company that had just been privatized, "Gradski podrum", in 1992.
[9] The 2018 Croatian documentary film The Boss: The Beginning (Gazda: Početak), centers on Kutle and his role during privatisation in Croatia.