ZAGREB, Oct. 16, (Xinhua) -- Police arrested on Monday former executives of the biggest company in Croatia, Agrokor, on suspicion of a white-collar crime.
Fifteen people are the subjects of the preliminary investigation that Chief State Prosecutor's Office (DORG) launched after the state took over the management of the company that was on the verge of collapse. Six have been arrested so far as police continue to search homes of the former executive members, looking for evidence and taking suspects into custody.
In the early morning, Croatian police first entered the Zagreb residence of the owner of Agrokor, Ivica Todoric, who was not home. Todoric's lawyer told the media that his client was not on the run.
"This is a political process against me. With my Croatian and international legal team, I am preparing defense and lawsuits which will, in court epilogues, disclose and bring to justice all those who, by criminal activity and unconstitutional law, have created a screen for the biggest robbery of private property in modern Europe", the owner of Agrokor wrote on Monday at his blog.
Among the 15 suspects, there are Ivica Todoric, his two sons, and his son-in-law.
With about 40,000 employees and revenues of 6.5 billion euros (7.67 billion U.S. dollars) in 2015, which is almost 16 percent of Croatia's total GDP, Agrokor Group is the biggest and most important private company in the country. With more than 2,000 stores, Agrokor retail chain is a leader in the entire South-East Europe retail market.
After the Croatian government took over the company in January 2017 because of its huge debt, the new state-appointed management did an in-depth financial revision that revealed hidden debts and serious irregularities in the management of business books.
