Croatia court orders arrest of retail giant boss

A Croatian court ordered Wednesday that the boss of ailing Balkans food and retial giant Agrokor, who is suspected of financial wrongdoing, be detained as soon as he returns to the country.

Judges in Zagreb said that if Ivica Todoric fails to appear in Croatia within the next few days an international warrant will be issued for his arrest.

He is accused, along with 14 others including his two sons and other former top executives at the company, of abuse of trust, forging official documents and failure to keep proper business records.

Local media reported that Todoric and his two sons are currently in Britain.

Twelve people were detained Monday in a series of raids in the Croatian capital including at Todoric's home, but neither he nor his sons were found.

"He is currently abroad ... he will return when it will be needed," his lawyer Cedo Prodanovic said.

With around 60,000 employees, two-thirds in Croatia, Agrokor is the largest employer in the Balkans.

According to an audit published last week, the debt-ridden food group made a loss of 11 billion kunas (1.5 billion euros/$1.8 billion) in 2016 and the value of its capital was cut by nearly 3.0 billion euros.

Source: AFP