The investigation against Agrokor owner is still in its pre-official phase.
If Ivica Todorić or one of the members of his household do not personally receive a decision to initiate an investigation in the Agrokor case officially, it will not become official until mid-November, reports N1 on October 27, 2017.
The investigation, according to the law, cannot become official until the defendant is informed of the decision. If he is unavailable and the decision is not received by a member of his household, it has to be published on the official notice board of the state attorney’s office which initiated the investigation. The decision has to remain there for eight days. The eighth day counts as the last day of receipt and the next day an eight-day appeal period will start to run.
Defence attorneys of the other 14 people accused in the Agrokor case have already announced they would submit an appeal against the investigation. Despite the fact that the appeal deadline for suspects to whom the State Attorney’s Office immediately handed over the decisions on the investigation expired on Thursday, the court will not decide on their appeals until the deadline also expires for Todorić, who is not available to the Croatian authorities and for whom an international arrest warrant has been issued.
Finally, after all the deadlines expire, a judge of the Zagreb County Court will decide on the appeals. If he or she refuses them and confirms the decision of the State Attorney’s Office to initiate the official investigation, the decision will become legally valid, and there is no possibility for further appeals, said spokesperson of the Zagreb County Court Krešimir Devčić.
The investigations against Ivica Todorić, his sons Ante and Ivan, and 12 of Agrokor’s managers and auditors, who allegedly illegally acquired 1.142 billion kunas, was launched on 18 October by the County State Attorney’s Office in Zagreb.
In addition to Todorić and his sons, other accused persons in this case are Alojzije Pandžić, Damir Kuštrak, Hrvoje Balent, Ivica Crnjac, Olivio Discordia, Marijan Alagušić, Sanja Hrstić, Mislav Galić, Tomislav Lučić, Piruška Canjuga, Ljerka Puljić and Ivica Sertić. Most of them were members of Agrokor’s board of directors or supervisory board in the last several years, while Discordia and Hrstić worked for the Baker Tilly audit firm, which prepared Agrokor’s audit reports that turned out to be untruthful.
Translated from N1.
