Former Croatian Prime Minister Sanader arrested in Austria over fraud charges

[News_Editor]

Former Croatian Prime Minister Sanader arrested in Austria over fraud charges

2010-12-11 02:05:45 GMT+7 (ICT)

SALZBURG, AUSTRIA (BNO NEWS) -- Former Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader was arrested on Friday in the Austrian city of Salzburg after an international arrest warrant had been issued on fraud charges, the 'Die Presse' newspaper reported.

Sanader was detained on Salzburg's Tauern motorway after his parliamentary immunity was lifted on Thursday by the Croatian Parliament after a request from the State Attorney's Office. He was arrested at around 3.46 p.m. local time and was taken to a regional court.

Croatian authorities submitted the arrest warrant to Interpol on Thursday night as Sanader fled the country for Slovenia. The international arrest warrant indicated that the former PM was wanted over suspicion of conspiring to commit fraud and abuse of office.

Sanader alleged that he was only on a short trip and that he intended to return to the Croatian city of Zagreb on late Friday. He was Croatia's Prime Minister from 2003 to 2009, a period during which he was accused of several corruption schemes.

He allegedly funneled millions of Euros in state funds to finance the election campaign of the ruling party, the Croatian Democratic Community (HDZ). Sanader allegedly obtained approximately four million Euros ($5.2 million) from public firms and state institutions.

The fraud scheme was conducted along with Fimi-Media, a firm that worked with many state companies and institutions dealing with public relations work. Fimi-Media's owner, Nevenka Jurak, testified that she gave 4.74 million Euros ($6.2 million) to HDZ treasurer Mladen Barisic in exchange for securing contracts.

Barisic reportedly gave a substantial sum of that amount to the former Prime Minister who spent it on pieces of art and other collectibles. Sanader also used another part of the money for campaign financing, including purchasing a news outlet in Zadar.

In addition, Sanader is accused of abusing his position and power in securing cheap electricity for Robert Jezic's company Dioki Group. The former PM is also implicated in the procurement of cheap electricity for another company, Sibenik TLM, or Aluminijum Mostar.

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