Former Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader is expected to give a deposition on Wednesday via video link from a prison in Salzburg to a Carinthian commission of inquiry in Klagenfurt about what knows in the case of the Hypo Group Alpe Adria bank.
The Carinthian parliament's commission investigating wrongdoing in the Hypo bank's operations said last week it wanted to interview Sanader, who is in custody on an arrest warrant issued by Croatia, where he is suspected of corruption.
According to the Austrian state prosecutor, Sanader is suspected in Croatia of embezzling at least EUR 6 million in state funds in a conspiracy with other people.
According to Austrian media, Sanader made illegal gain in doing business with the Carinthian bank, which has opened branches in Southeast Europe, including Croatia.
Sanader has dismissed all accusations.
The chairman of the commission of inquiry, Rudolf Holub, said in Croatia in September that Hypo had suspicious unpaid loans totalling EUR 8 billion in 12 countries, including several hundred million worth in Croatia.
He said the commission was trying to establish links between politicians and bankers in all the countries in which the bank had operated, and particularly whether the money withdrawn from the bank had been used to finance political parties.
In the meantime, the prosecutor's office in Innsbruck has launched an investigation into Sanader following a Tyrolean bank's report of money laundering, according to which Sanader may have accounts in Tyrol linked to Croatia's suspicions against him.
If the Austrian suspicions against Sanader are based on facts, criminal proceedings could be launched against him, which would delay his extradition to Croatia.
