Croatian anti-corruption prosecutors reportedly start investigation into Agrokor email leak

Croatian anti-corruption prosecutors reportedly start investigation into Agrokor email leak
By bne IntelliNews May 16, 2018

Croatia's Office for Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime (USKOK) has started investigating former deputy prime minister and economy minister Martina Dalic, acting on complaints filed by two political parties, local media reported on May 16 quoting unofficial sources.

Dalic announced her resignation on May 14, following the leak of her email correspondence showing alleged conflicts of interest in the restructuring of food and retail giant Agrokor under her auspices.

On May 9 the website Index.hr published a series of private emails sent by Dalic to various consultants, brokerage firms and lawyers who later benefited from deals with the troubled company to which the government had appointed an emergency management team.

The complaints against Dalic were filed with Zareb Municipal Attorney's Office by the parties Zivi Zid and Free Croatia. However, the case was forwarded to USKOK since it involves a senior state official, according to hrt.hr.

Prosecutors have reportedly been examining the emails since they were first made public, the sources claim. They are also inspecting text messages that have been forwarded to them by the Croatian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights and the Office of the President.

Ivica Todoric, the founder of Agrokor and a harsh critic of Lex Agrokor, which was drafted by Dalic, has also said he had forwarded some documents to the committee and the president in hopes they may “shed some light” on the case, according to hrt.hr.

Lex Agrokor is an emergency law on assistance to systemically important companies that cannot pay their debts, applying to companies with liabilities of over €1bn that employ at least 5,000 people. It was adopted in response to the near collapse early last year of Agrokor, Croatia’s largest company and one of the biggest employers in the SEE region.

Meanwhile, Croatia's opposition, led by the Social Democratic Party (SDP), on May 16 called for the dissolution of the parliament and the holding of early elections, claiming that the government has lost its legitimacy in the wake of Dalic's resignation.

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