ZAGREB, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- The County Court of Zagreb confirmed on Tuesday the indictment against the former owner of the Agrokor Group, Ivica Todoric, who is charged with siphoning 1.2 million Croatian kuna (180,000 U.S. dollars) from the biggest private company in Croatia.
This is the first confirmed indictment against the Croatian businessman, who is also under investigation for making an illegal gain of over one billion kuna.
Two other former Agrokor executives, Ante Huljev and Piruska Canjuga, and an Austrian woman are also charged in the alleged money siphoning scheme. According to the first indictment, Todoric, and Huljev, the company's finance manager, approved the payment of 1.2 million kuna for consulting services to a Swiss company, knowing that these services will never be delivered.
The Austrian woman, who was representing the Swiss company, is charged for issuing an invoice, while another former Agroor executive, Canjuga, allegedly incited the scheme. The Croatian daily Vecernji list reported that according to the indictment, Canjuga and Huljev are real owners of that Swiss company.
Agrokor is currently operating under the new name Fortenova Group. It is one of the largest companies in Croatia and one of the leading regional companies with more than 50,000 employees. The core business of the group is organized around retail and wholesale, food and agriculture. (1 Croatian kuna = 0.15 U.S. dollar)
