Attorney Zeljan Hrvatin of Rovinj, the seventh suspect in a case of alleged wrongdoing in the sale and purchase of real estate on behalf of Kermas Ulaganja, a company owned by businessman Danko Koncar, was taken to the Pula County Court investigating centre on Tuesday morning.
Hrvatin, who together with another suspect in the case, Boris Sorgo, owns a real estate agency in Rovinj, had been beyond the reach of the Istria county police, and the county prosecutor's office asked that he be remanded in custody as a flight risk.
The investigating judge in charge of the case has until Thursday afternoon to decide on a request to open an investigation into the seven suspects and keep in custody for one month Vinka Cetinski, Marin Sorgo, Romina Hrvatin and Boris Sorgo.
Suspects Zeljko Bilic and Gordan Dobrovic were released after they were questioned by the investigating judge on Saturday.
The police have said that the suspects bought, on behalf of Kermas Ulaganja, stakes in companies that they previously founded at prices that significantly exceeded the real value of those stakes, as well as that they stated in purchase contracts prices that were higher than the actual purchase prices. They kept for themselves the difference between the price stated in the contracts and the actual price.
Last October, Koncar pressed charges against Cetinski, his long-time associate and director of Kermas Ulaganja, for fraud and abuse of authority. He said he had authorised her to buy land in Istria and that she defrauded him of 16.5 million euros.
