The court ruled that former Minister for Regional Development and EU Funds Gabrijela Žalac, former Central Finance and Contracting Agency (SAFU) director Tomislav Petric and IT company owners Mladen Šimunac and Marko Jukić would remain in custody.
They are under investigation by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office on suspicion of defrauding the European Union and Croatia of €1.8 million.
Žalac is suspected of fixing the public procurement of an information system for strategic planning and development management for the companies owned by Šimunić and Jukić. The suspects concluded a harmful deal under which the price of the IT system was increased several times over to HRK 13.4 million (€1.8m) to the detriment of the financial interests of the EU and Croatia.
The court meets on Friday to discuss the prosecution motion to extend investigative detention for two months.
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