Croatia: 6 businessmen arrested for corruption

posted: 37 DAYS 16 HOURS AGO

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ZAGREB, Croatia -The former and current CEOs of a partially state-owned food company have been arrested on suspicion of embezzling company money to buy shares and get control, Croatian media reported Wednesday.

Senior police official Krunoslav Borovec confirmed that six people were detained on suspicion of abusing their offices and uniting to commit a crime. He did not identify the suspects, saying the investigation is ongoing.

Croatian media reported that CEO Zdravko Sestak and former CEO Darko Marinac, as well as four other businessmen, are suspected of channeling 250 million kuna (euro34 million) to offshore bank accounts as of 2006.

Croatia has stepped up efforts to crack down on corruption, a condition for joining the European Union.

The suspects reportedly withdrew the money as false loans to other companies, and planned to buy 25 percent of Podravka shares now owned by the state.

Later Wednesday, three opposition parties requested that Economics Minister Damir Polancec be ousted, claiming that as a member of Podravka's supervisory board at the time, he "actively organized and participated" in the scheme.

Polancec rejected any connection. There was no immediate comment from Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor.

The case — dubbed "Spice" after Podravka's dried spice mixture, Vegeta — was first uncovered by local media.

It drew widespread attention because Podravka is a profitable company will well-known managers.

2009-10-21 11:06:04