They are indicted for damaging the state by more than HRK 10 million when they deposited money from tax refund into Visnja Pevec's private account in Austria.

Testifying before the court, former finance director of the Pevec retailer group, Nives Jambrosic, said she had kept the books according to regulations and laws and that she was independent in her job.

The tax administration monitored the group's business operations and intervened if there were some omissions, she said.

She said that the Pevec Group had excellent business results until late 2008 when everything suddenly took a turn for the worse.

Twelve witnesses were questioned in a probe into allegations that the Pevecs syphoned off some HRK 20 million from their two companies from the Pevec Group.