ZAGREB, 8 Oct 2021 - Visits to prison inmates and persons in custody, notably those at Zagreb's Remetinec prison, have not been allowed over the past month due to coronavirus having entered the prison system, the Večernji List daily of Friday reports.

Inmates have also not been able to exercise their right to spend some weekends outside the prison system.

The Justice and Public Administration Ministry says the Prison Administration Department has been implementing a set of measures since the start of the pandemic to prevent the virus from entering and spreading in the prison system.

Under one of those measures, before prisons were last closed for visitors, only visitors who were vaccinated, had recovered from COVID-19 or had a negative test not older than 48 hours were allowed to make a visit.

Nonetheless, this did not prevent the virus from entering the system and according to this week's data from the ministry, 23 inmates and persons in custody at Remetinec are infected while 110 are self-isolating.

In the entire prison system, 27 inmates are infected and 127 are in self-isolation.

The ministry notes that no employees at Remetinec are infected or in self-isolation.

Since the start of the pandemic, 2,321 inmates and 1,598 employees in the prison system have been vaccinated.

The exact number of persons tested and infected in the prison system will be known once the report on the state and work of penitentiaries, prisons and correctional facilities for 2021 is released, the daily says.

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July the 15th, 2021 - Remember all of those stories about the very wild Zagreb entrepreneur Tomo Horvatincic and his continued successful attempts at escaping jail? They've finally come to an end.

The Croatian entrepreneur who is responsible for the deaths of an Italian couple due to the reckless driving of a boat in Croatian waters has managed to avoid jail so far, he even attempted to due the children of the couple he killed for damage done to his boat. This alone is disgusting enough, but the fact that people are going to jail in Croatia for the tiniest of offences while someone like this walks free is the real problem for the vast majority of angry citizens. 

With all of that being said, and with the fact that Tomo Horvatincic managed to walk out of court with his driving license still in his hand despite his actions, Remetinec jail is his current home. Finally.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Zagreb businessman Tomo Horvatincic said goodbye to his friends on Tuesday and told them that his new home would be in Remetinec prison from Wednesday, where he would wait for the solution of his sixth appeal in which he is asking for his sentence to be postponed. In the past, he has been preparing to go to prison, to serve a sentence of four years and ten months, due to the aforementioned maritime accident in which he caused the death of two Italian citizens on a speedboat a decade ago.

Despite the lawyers' appeals against the court decision refusing another postponement, the entrepreneur appeared to know his fate had arrived and made sure to take all of the appropriate measures so that his business could function without him.

He appointed his son Kresimir Horvatincic as the director of his companies HOTO ZRINJEVAC, HOTO CVJETNI and HOTO ISTRA, while remaining in the position of director himself too, as he is still at the head of the umbrella HOTO GROUP as the President of the Management Board, but his son has been a member of the Management Board since 2018, so the job can function without additional personnel changes, writes Lider.

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ZAGREB, 14 April, 2021 - US actor and producer Don Victor Cisternino has found himself on an international arrest warrant because the United States wants him for fraud of millions of dollars in subsidies for his employees affected by the pandemic, the Jutarnji List daily said on Wednesday.

I was afraid that the new administration under President Joe Biden would prosecute me for this kind of business, even though it was allowed during the Trump administration. That is why I decided to flee to Europe after the election in the US and seek asylum in Russia or some other country. And that's how I came to Croatia where I wanted to seek political asylum, Cisternino was quoted as saying.

The 45-year old actor and producer, known for his episode role in the television series ER, was arrested on an international arrest warrant on Sunday evening when he entered Croatia from Slovenia in a vehicle.

Over the past few years Cisternino has been running his own company, Magnifi Co, providing consulting services in the film and art industry. The state attorney in Orlando, Florida has charged Cisternino with embezzlement of $7.2 million of a state loan for support to companies affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

Cisternino submitted fraudulent details to obtain a jobkeeping loan claiming that his company employed 422 employees, yet it only has two - Cisternino and his wife.

Irregularities were discovered by the tax authorities as Cisternino's tax return noted that all his workers paid the same tax of $3,356. However, due to tax deductions related to the number of children, unemployed spouse and other benefits, taxation varies from employee to employee which then raised suspicion as all 422 workers paid an identical tax amount.

Cisternino has declared that he objects to being extradited to the US. That means that his extradition won't be expedited and the formal extradition procedure will follow, the daily reported.

For more about crime in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

As 24sata writes on the 5th of December, 2018, Ivica Todorić, who was recently released from Remetinec prison following his eyebrow-raising payment of a million euros in bail, which he said was paid by friends, has decided to become politically active. On Wednesday, the 5th of December, 2018, he announced his political engagement once again and used the opportunity to criticise Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and the Croatian Government, according to a report from N1.

We've translated his statement in full below:

''Dear all,

Today, following two years of Andrej Plenković's government, the Republic of Croatia is socially and economically completely destroyed, devastated, we have chaos and a dictatorship, we're seeing the destruction of institutions every day, we're the worst member of the EU, we're last on the list by all indicators, we're at the very bottom!

Today, the Republic of Croatia isn't a country of knowledge, it isn't a country [which respects] the rule of law, it isn't a country which cares about its demographic status, the economic position of its citizens, or the state itself.

At the same time, two years have passed since the launch of the plundering of Agrokor, a monstrous criminal project unseen in history in this part of the EU.

That is precisely the best example of corrupt antinational power, which has plagued the future of the citizens of the Republic of Croatia and has thrown the state on its knees.

I fought alone, and I'm still fighting [armed] with the truth and the facts about the crimes which were carried out over my company, my associates, and over me.

Throughout my life I've been giving to my homeland to Croatia, through the Agrokor project, building a modern, competitive industry that eventually became the largest in this part of the EU.

But now I look upon this dictatorship of Prime Minister Plenković, who pitilessly continues to inflict tremendous damage upon the Republic of Croatia, and who is destroying our homeland and its future.

Exactly because of the desire to change this catastrophic position of the Republic of Croatia, I decided to become politically active!

We in the Republic of Croatia need to gather all the potential of every individual to make the best use of our national wealth - forests, water, land, and our sea, in order to realise our national interests in the most functional way.

The Republic of Croatia must get started and become a country of knowledge that respects the rule of law. Severe, serious reforms and investment cycles need to be initiated literally overnight as [otherwise] it will be too late. Croatia needs to be transformed into the construction site for the future of our children and all citizens.

I'm sure that we will eradicate this corrupt, incompetent, dictatorial authority - to ensure a better future for our homeland of Croatia and for our children.

With respect,

Ivica Todorić''

Make sure to follow our dedicated politics page to stay up to date with the Croatian political scene and all of the former Agrokor boss' political moves.

Ivica Todorić's attorney, Jadranka Sloković, clarified a few things for N1 on the 21st of November, 2018, with regard to what can be expected next in Ivica Todorić's case, as well as on his planned political engagement, which he himself recently announced, much to the surprise of most.

Ivica Todorić is on parole, who can carry out precautionary measures?

"He'll carry them out himself, because he has to obey them - he has to be at his place of residence, in Zagreb.''

Todorić apparently has the right to free movement in Zagreb, but he mustn't leave the city without the explicit permission of the judge, and he's also had to hand over his passport.

''They will check all of that. He's too much of a well-known person to be able to just go anywhere," explained Sloković.

How is the investigation going, when can we expect the indictment?

"So far, between 60 and 70 witnesses have been questioned," stated the lawyer, which means that there are ''more witnesses than were initially scheduled for the investigation." Witness examination is, therefore, at an end. Problems could arise however, due to the situation being to do with a foreign company.

"We really think that this will be a problem, from knowledge of the language to knowledge of the regulations, which must be applied to certain situations,'' explained Sloković. She added that the result of the assessment is not expected to be arrived to particularly quickly, either.

"It's been announced, and a decision may have been reached now, to extend the investigation for another six months, which means that the investigation will last for at least eighteen months, after which a decision will be made as to whether an indictment will be filed or not, and the indictment may be brought by the prosecutor one month after the investigation has been completed, meaning that that period can be extended for another three months, so there's still a long way to go to the indictment.''

"As for the witnesses who've been questioned up to now - given the fact that this is a non-public investigation, I can't go into [can't discuss] the testimonies, but our stance is that the testimonies don't burden Ivica Todorić in any way whatsoever."

Was custody after extradition necessary, what do you have to say about the bail fee?

"Our position was that no detention was necessary and that everything could be solved with the precautionary measures that are applicable in this case, however, the court's view was that prison was needed, and that could be replaced by bail and precautionary measures. Essentially it was the same decision as that of the court in London,'' explained Sloković, adding that a lower bail amount and different precautionary measures were involved.

Ivica Todorić announced his political engagement, yet before him lies a lengthy court process?

"We still don't know in what way this process will be completed. No matter how optimistically it started, the question is what will be proven during the investigation - it's not certain that an indictment will be filed."

As for his announced political engagement, Sloković stated that such a move is entirely Todorić's decision.

"In one thing he's right - despite Agrokor's difficult destiny, he created respectable firms, there's no burned ground left behind him. He definitely has certain qualities and what he decides to do now is his choice," concluded Jadranka Sloković.

Keep up with all things related to Ivica Todorić here.

Click here for the original interview by N1 Hrvatska

Ivica Todorić paid his million euro sum and has now officially been released from Remetinec prison. How did he come upon such a large amount of cash, you ask? No idea, I respond. In the paradoxical land that is Croatia, everything is impossible and at the same time nothing is impossible, let's just say that.

Now he's free, at least for now, the former Agrokor boss has one or two new ambitions and obviously needs a new career path to venture down now that he's no longer at the seat of the country's largest privately owned company. What better path to take than the one he says ruined him and then conducted a witch hunt against him? Yes, politics.

Todorić's bail fee was set at 7.5 million kuna, and the catch was that it couldn't be paid in any other way except cold hard cash. His lawyers deemed this clause to be a tricky one to bypass, and Todorić's wish to be free seemed to have had cold water poured all over it, until yesterday when he managed to come up with a million euros in cash. You know, as you do.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 21st of November, 2018, upon being asked just how he came upon a massive one million euros in cash, Ivica Todorić explained that a lot of people who contacted him themselves were ready and willing to help out with the bail fee. 

The first morning after leaving Remetinec prison, Ivica Todorić went to get his hair done. According to a report from 24sata, just as he did before leaving for London last year, Todorić went to one of the capital city's most well known hair salons, located on Bauer street (Ulica Antuna Bauera).

''I've come back with the ''old-new'' hairstyle. As far as bail is concerned, a lot of people helped me out, and they got in touch with me themselves. It's not fair for me to talk all about that now, everything will come to light. I'll win power and start turning Croatia in the right direction, I'm going to the elections,'' said Todorić for 24sata.

Keep up with Ivica Todorić's ever unusual antics by following our dedicated page. Keep up with the Croatian political scene by clicking here.

Ivica Todorić has been spending time in Zagreb's Remetinec prison since his extradition from Britain to Croatia to face trial for his alleged crimes in Agrokor, his former company. The trial however, still appears to have no set date, at least not publicly.

Despite his year long attempts and final appeal while living in London to stop the British decision to extradite him having failed, he continued to fight for his right to freedom following his arrival in Croatia, with his lawyers questioning why he needs to be behind bars when he poses no threat of influence over any witnesses.

In response to this, the Croatian authorities have claimed that while that might be true, his flight risk is still very high, especially given his ''trip'' to London, which lasted an entire year, at a very crucial time. Todorić himself still claims this was a pure coincidence, that he had to be in London for business, and that he wasn't escaping anything.

Recently, his freedom had a price of 7.5 million kuna placed on it, and while the former Agrokor boss may indeed possess that in assets, the clause was that it had to be paid in cold hard cash, which looked like it was about to throw a wet blanket on the entire idea. Until today.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 20th of November, 2018, Ivica Todorić's defense team sent their proposal to Zagreb County Court, and a confirmation of the payment having been paid is now being awaited, according to N1.

What this means is that Ivica Todorić has paid the one million euro bail fee, and Agrokor's former owner will likely soon be released from Remetinec. This information was confirmed to Telegram by a source close to the Todorić family.

Make sure to follow our news page and keep up with all things related to Ivica Todorić here.

Ivica Todorić's huge bail sum must be paid in cash. Just some spare change, then?

After a year-long stay in London, which was made up entirely of Ivica Todorić attempting to find a way out of the British extraditing him to Croatia to face trial, the former Agrokor boss returned to his country on the 7th of November, 2018, exactly one year after handing himself in to the Metropolitan police and paying a massive £100,000 bail fee for his relative freedom in the British capital.

His time in London was spent fighting his cause, from texts on his now infamous blog, to creating a YouTube channel and speaking directly to his audience, to then giving exclusive interviews when he felt those methods weren't enough.

Rumours of him having hired powerful British lawyers to help him fight his corner flew around, including one about him having engaged the formidable Michael O'Kane, a lawyer specialising in extradition from the United Kingdom, who has dealt with high profile, complicated cases involving the likes of the Russian mafia. 

It was all in vain, and after several delays and hearings, the British finally extradited the former tycoon back to Croatia. Just says after the order, Ivica Todorić was seen in London Heathrow awaiting a regular Croatia Airlines flight to Zagreb. He was escorted by police, his wife Vesna Todorić was not allowed to sit with him, and on board the aircraft (which was delayed), he was separated from all other passengers. He read English newspapers and ate nothing, drinking only Jana water, which was offered to him by the Croatia Airlines stewardesses. 

Although photography was strictly forbidden on board, some managed, and when Todorić was asked how he was feeling, he said he ''felt good'', which is much more than could be said of his wife, Vesna, who was visibly shaken and provided a statement to those on board that her husband was innocent and that he had misappropriated nothing from Agrokor.

Upon landing at Zagreb's Franjo Tudjman Airport, Vesna went home and Ivica Todorić was taken by the police, away from the main passenger terminal, to a police van which was already waiting for him, and directly to Remetinec prison in Zagreb.

Since being imprisoned, Todorić's lawyer, Jadranka Sloković, who has been with him throughout his ordeal in both Croatia and Britain, have sought bail, claiming that Todorić has no reason to be kept behind bars as he poses no threat of influencing witnesses. The Croatian authorities have in turn argued that while that may be true, there is a risk of flight. His earlier ''trip'' to London confirming that concern.

With that being said, has a potential resolve been reached for the former Agrokor boss? 

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 15th of November, 2018, a bail amount of 7.5 million kuna has been set for Todorić, and if that amount is paid in cash, he can leave Remetinec. Zagreb County Court's spokesman Kresimir Devčić confirmed this.

As stated, the cash amount of 7.5 million kuna must be paid in cash for Todorić to taste freedom before his trial, the date of which still remains unknown as yet.

Follow all you need to know about Ivica Todorić here.

Ivica Todorić returned to Croatia a few days ago following the British decision to extradite him to Croatia to face trial for his alleged crimes within his former company, the gigantic Agrokor Group. Todorić raised the enormous company from its very roots decades ago, employed around 60,000 people, and became one of the most powerful people in not only Croatia, but the wider region. What goes up, however, must eventually come down, and things couldn't have taken more of a 360 turn for the former Agrokor boss if they tried.

From a luxurious life in Kulmerovi dvori up in the hills above Zagreb and gracing the glossy pages of Forbes magazine, to being on the run and appearing as one of Europol's most wanted, to paying £100,000 to the British authorities for relative freedom to live in London on tag for a year, to being extradited to Croatia on a regular Croatia Airlines flight (which was also delayed), and then taken to Zagreb's Remetinec prison. Whoever said life could be predictable? 

Just how does one of Croatia's most formidable characters spend his time behind bars as he awaits trial? 

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 10th of November, 2018, Ivica Todorić, as his wife Vesna said, was actually pleased with the conditions in Remetinec and shares his cell with an individual who is currently serving time behind bars for a fairly petty criminal act.

Todorić and his cellmate must clean up their cell every day, and they do so after getting up at seven o'clock in the morning. For about half an hour after that, which is about as much time as there is between waking up and being given breakfast, which is brought to them in their cell - they have time for personal hygiene and similar things.

Lunch comes at 13:00. If Todorić has any health problems, such as autoimmune conditions, allergies, diseases or intolerances which require a different diet, his menu will be adjusted to him in accordance with a doctor's recommendations. In addition to the menus prescribed by a doctor in the case of potential food issues, prisoners have the right to a religious and a vegetarian menu. For Easter and Christmas, a traditional meal is served, and the daily intake is 3000 calories, according to a report from Večernji list.

After lunch comes time for a rest, and dinner is served at 19:00. During the day, prisoners are provided with a two-hour walk through the prison circle. There are three walkways in Remetinec. The men and the women are separated for this also.

Showering happens at least once a week, it can be more frequent, but it doesn't occur every day.

Television can be watched until 23:00, and on Fridays, Saturdays, holidays, and for the duration of any sort of football championship, for an hour longer. After that time, it's lights out. Visits are on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and the first and third Sunday of the month, and visitation permission is given by the competent investigating judge.

Find out more about Ivica Todorić here.

Ivica Todorić has returned to Croatia after more than a year in London, having landed on the territory of a country in which he is no longer the owner of the largest regional company. Exactly one year after handing himself in in the British capital, living under the watchful eye of the Metropolitan police and after an agonisingly long court battle, Agrokor's former untouchable main man returned to his homeland utterly powerless. A far cry from the not so distant reality Todorić once enjoyed, having once owned his own private island, Smokvica.

As Jutarnji/Vanja Nezirovic writes on the 9th of November, 2018, unlike back on the 10th of April 2017, when he signed Lex Agrokor, which activated the law to allow the Croatian Government to step in and rescue Agrokor, and unlike in the autumn of the same year when he temporarily "emigrated" to London, Agrokor's largest single owner is now Russia's Sberbank with a 39.2 percent stake. The settlement was a long and painfully complex process, however, in order to execute such a settlement, creditors, primarily financial lenders, had to write off a large part of their claims, around 60 percent.

Namely, the exact amount and percentage of the final write-off of the creditor's claims will be known at the time when Agrokor is sold. To recall, on April the 10th, 2017, Agrokor had 7.7 billion euro in debt, of which about 1.5 billion euro was debt within the group, which means that the debt to third parties actually amounted to about 6.2 billion euro.

If we know that the framework calculations of Agrokor's value are projected at about 2.3 billion euro, this would mean that the creditors, primarily financially (based on this nominal projection), were forced to give up an enormous total of about 4 billion euro. This was the price of the survival of Agrokor, which for now, following these write-offs, has a debt of 1.06 billion euro in so-called roll up loans.

Agrokor's medium and large suppliers have so far averaged 60 percent of their claims for goods and services, were paid 500 million euro in cach for old debts, with 46 percent of them having a return of between 80 and 100 percent. When the rest of the debt is paid out over four years, and when part of Agrokor's property is converted, their return will amount to about 80 percent. The bonds' return rate ranges between 40 percent and 80 percent, while the largest number of domestic and foreign financial institutions and other creditors will have an average return on demand of up to 20 percent.

At the time of signing Lex Agrokor, Todorić's Agrokor Group was blocked in the amount of 3 billion kuna, and it was naturally expected that this dire situation could lead to Croatia into a short-term recession. The possibility of Agrokor's bankcruptcy could have, according to CNB/HNB (Croatian National Bank) projections, lead to several smaller banks entering into a very dangerous situation indeed, yet while the banking system luckily remained stable, the losses bigger banks suffered were felt almost immediately.

Even with the implementation of a specially regulated bankruptcy proceeding through Lex Agrokor, several contract suppliers ended up in bankruptcy or having to undertake pre-bankruptcy proceedings, some stabilised the recapitalisation of third parties, some are still awaiting ownership and business restructuring, but a stronger economic and social shock was thankfully avoided.

Today, Agrokor's debt has been reduced to levels that should be viable, things are generally much more stable and the company is expected to return to normal function in 2019. The results of companies like Jamnica and Ledo, are once again very good, Konzum seems to be more than just recovering, but some other companies from within the large Agrokor umbrella, like Velpro and Konzum BiH (Bosnia and Herzegovina) are still very vulnerable.

It's also clear that agricultural companies such as Vupik will need some more time to recover properly, but the overall picture of the company today is much more healthy than it was a year ago, thanks to the current extraordinary commissioner, Fabris Peruško.

That means that the Croatian economy, a much more than significant part of which is made up by Agrokor, has gone from being under grave threat, to being more stable, more safe, and more competitive.

Want to keep up with the latest news and detailed information on Ivica Todorić and his swapping of London for Remetinec prison? Make sure to follow everything here.

Click here for the original article by Vanja Nezirovic for Jutarnji List