ZAGREB, 7 July 2022 - Former agriculture minister Tomislav Tolušić and Željko Ferenc, an employee of the Paying Agency for Agriculture, who were arrested on Thursday on suspicion of subsidy fraud and abuse of office in two wine sector tenders, are to be interrogated by European investigators.

Tolušić and Ferenc, who were apprehended in their homes in the eastern Croatian city of Virovitica on a warrant issued by the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO), have been transferred to Zagreb for questioning.

A Zagreb County Court investigating judge will decide on their detention if the European investigators make such a request.

Media outlets say that Tolušić was granted HRK 2.5 million in aid for his winery project under the EU scheme in which half of the sum is covered by the non-repayable grant and the other half is provided by the business concerned.

However, it has turned out that Tolušić's putative sum of another HRK 2.5 million did not exist and that he provided false evidence to show that he met the requirements for the grant.

Tolušić reportedly incited Ferenc to give a positive opinion on his application for the grant, although the application falsely stated that the piece of land in question had no crops planted in it, when in fact he had previously planted a vineyard there.

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ZAGREB, 25 March (2022) - The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), which started operating on 21 June 2021, opened 576 investigations in the first six months of its existence and 515 were active on 31 December, the Večernji List (VL) daily reported on Friday.

Eight of the 576 cases or 1.4% of them are related to Croatia.

The EPPO is an independent body of the European Union responsible for investigating, prosecuting and bringing to judgment crimes against the financial interests of the EU, including fraud corruption, money laundering and cross-border VAT fraud.

Currently,  22 member-states of the European Union, including Croatia, are participating members of the EPPO. 

"EU institutions and bodies, as well as the competent authorities of the 22 member states which joined the EPPO, must report any criminal conduct affecting the EU budget to the EPPO. Individuals can also report alleged cases of fraud and other crimes," it was reported on the EPPO website.

According to the estimated damage in the opened cases, Italy with cases accounting for aggregate damage of €1.7 billion tops the ranking.

Romania ranks second (€1.3 billion), and Croatia ranks 15th with estimated damage totalling €30.6 million.

Considering the number of opened cases, Italy is again on the top of the ranking, with 120 cases.

Bulgaria follows with 105 cases, and Romania ranks third (60 cases). Croatia and Latvia share the 13th position.

With regard to the suspects implicated in these cases, former Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov is the highest-profile suspect for now who is believed to have been engaged in misusing EU funds.

In Croatia, a former minister of EU Finds and Regional Development, Gabrijela Žalac, is the best-known indictee covered by EPPO probes. The investigation was launched by the EPPO following a criminal report filed by the National Police Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime. Žalac,  former Central Finance and Contracting Agency (SAFU) director Tomislav Petric and IT company owners Mladen Šimunac and Marko Jukić, are suspected 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 Šimunac and Jukić.

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