Former Economy Minister arrested on the basis of an EPPO warrant

The European Public Prosecutor's Office has arrested two people on suspicion of committing subsidy fraud and falsifying documents related to three tenders in the agricultural sector, co-financed by the European Union.

Among those arrested on Thursday is the former head of the Croatia Osiguranje Insurance Company and former Minister of Economy Hrvoje Vojković. The European Prosecutor's Office accuses him of falsifying documents for three tenders in agriculture, which were issued by the Agency for Payments in Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development, and the total amount of requested funds was about 370 thousand euros. However, considering that irregularities were already discovered in a previous control of his requests, the money was not granted to him, so financial damage was prevented in advance. The requested funds related to tulip plantations, which did not exist at all. As reported by some media, Vojković planted tulips on a smaller area on his property in Istria, when he realized that without tulips there would be no incentive, so that he could support his claim. But it was allegedly a plantation that did not even resemble a garden, let alone the serious cultivation of that type of flower.

Vojković was a member of HSLS from 1989 to 2010, and was named Economy Minister in 2002 by the SDP-led coalition government of Ivica Račan.

In related news, the European Public Prosecutor's Office initiated proceedings against a criminal organization suspected of having organized Value Added Tax fraud in 17 countries, including Croatia, worth 195 million euros. The Prosecutor's Office states that it is a complex criminal scheme that took advantage of European Union rules on cross-border transactions between member states, as they are exempt from Value Added Tax.

Source: HRT