Ivica Todoric, the founder of Croatian food producer and retailer Agrokor, was due to be released from jail after his lawyers said a 7.5 million kuna ($1.15 million) bail payment had been deposited. The update came on 20 November 2018 in Zagreb, where Todoric is facing a major fraud investigation.
Cedo Prodanovic, one of Todoric’s lawyers, told reporters: “The amount requested (by the court) has been deposited,” adding that Todoric was expected to leave prison later that day. Todoric had been extradited from Britain to Croatia earlier in the month to answer allegations of fraud totaling tens of millions of euros.
He is being investigated alongside 14 other people, most of them former senior Agrokor managers, over his role in the company’s debt and liquidity crisis. The case centers on a collapse that involved several billion euros, and Todoric denies any wrongdoing.
Under the court’s conditions, Todoric is not allowed to leave Zagreb without permission. The criminal case comes after Agrokor, the largest employer in the Balkans, was taken over by its creditors in a debt settlement deal confirmed last month, with Russia’s largest bank Sberbank among the biggest creditors.
The exchange rate cited in the report placed $1 at 6.5123 kuna.
