The office of the Austrian prosecutor for corruption told Croatia's RTL television on Tuesday that, upon receiving an investigation file from Innsbruck, it launched today criminal proceedings against former Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader and one of his relatives on suspicion of money laundering.
"We have launched criminal proceedings against Sanader, against one of his relatives, and against a third person," the spokesman for the Vienna-based prosecutor's office, Friedrich Koenig, told RTL.
"We intend to interview them. I can't talk about further investigating procedures," he added.
The office of the Austrian prosecutor for corruption yesterday confirmed receipt of an investigation file against Sanader from the prosecutor's office in Innsbruck, which opened it on the basis of a Tyrolean bank's report of suspicions of money laundering.
The file was sent from Innsbruck to the state attorney for corruption in Vienna last week.
"We believe the Vienna office is in charge of the case," Hansjoerg Mayr, spokesman for the prosecutor's office in Innsbruck, told reporters last Friday.
According to the Tyrolean bank's report, Sanader may have accounts in Tyrol linked to suspicions against him in Croatia, said Mayr.
Croatian Interior Minister Tomislav Karamarko said today the Austrian investigation into Sanader complicated matters only with regard to the pace of his extradition to Croatia, adding that, if some crimes were committed in Austria, one must be held to account for them there.
Croatia has requested Sanader's extradition on suspicion of conspiracy in corruption involving the Fimi Media advertising firm and of abuse of office in unlawful operations involving the HEP power company and the Dioki petrochemical company. The national anti-corruption office USKOK has launched an investigation into Sanader, while a Zagreb County Court judge has set month-long detention for him.
Sanader has been in extradition custody in Salzburg for about 10 days.
