ZAGREB (Croatia), October 17 (SeeNews) – Police continued searching on Tuesday the Zagreb residence of the owner of Croatia's ailing concern Agrokor, Ivica Todoric, after they entered the property the day before, a lawyer said.
Fran Olujic, lawyer of Ante Todoric - Ivica Todoric's son and a former senior Agrokor executive, said in statement to the media aired on public broadcaster HRT, that his client is abroad and is expected to return to Croatia later this week, when he is likely to be arrested.
"Given that all the other suspects have been arrested, I expect that Ante will be arrested, too," Olujic said.
Olujic added he expected his client to be placed in pre-trial detention.
Lawyers of Ante Todoric said earlier that he has officially cancelled his residency in Croatia and registered in London a month and a half ago.
Ante Todoric used to be Agrokor vice-president from the beginning of 2016 until April 2017 when the government stepped in to prevent the collapse of Croatia's largest privately held company, appointing a receiver under a special law governing the management of systemically important companies.
Also on Tuesday, Ivica Todoric's lawyer, Cedo Prodanovic, addressed an HRT reporter, stating that his client is "abroad as his children are employed there".
"He will be back when necessary", Prodanovic said, adding that his client still hasn't received an official invitation to a court hearing from the Chief State Prosecutor's Office (DORH).
On Monday, Croatia's interior ministry said that criminal charges will be filed against 12 people detained by police as part of a probe of suspected abuse of trust in business operations, forging of official documents and failure to keep business records in Agrokor.
Croatian news agency Hina reported early on Tuesday that the first group of suspects in Agrokor case are being questioned.
Media have been speculating that the arrested persons may turn on Agrokor's owner Ivica Todoric and his two sons, who avoided arrests on Monday. The interior ministry said that the three of them 'are unavailable', following reports that they are in London.