Former Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Damir Polancec presented his defence during hour-long questioning by investigators from the Office for the Prevention of Corruption and Organised Crime (USKOK) in Zagreb on Tuesday evening, his lawyer said.
"Polancec didn't just stand mute, but presented an active defence," Anto Nobilo told reporters outside USKOK headquarters, without revealing what Polancec had told the investigators.
After the questioning, Polancec was driven away in a police van, presumably to a police detention unit where he would spend the night.
USKOK now has to decide whether it will launch a formal investigation and request that Polancec be detained in custody for 30 days, which in turn will be decided by a Zagreb County Court investigating judge.
The police said late in the afternoon that Polancec was suspected of causing extensive financial damage to the Podravka food company in which he had begun his business career in 1992.
