Their attorneys asked that the three men be released, but the judge rejected the request and remanded them in custody with the other three suspects.

According to the attorneys, there was no reason to keep their clients in detention any longer since the last witnesses were interviewed late last week. The danger of tampering with witnesses was the only reason the suspects were remanded in custody for another two months at the end of January.

The judge explained that the anti-corruption office USKOK had suggested interviewing a dozen other witnesses from Croatia and several from Hungary, and that this was the reason for detention.

Marinac was a former Podravka management and supervisory board chairman, Romac was a former Podravka management board member, while Horvat is the director of the Varazdin-based company Fima.

The lawyers maintain that their clients have been in detention since Friday in violation of the law, because all witnesses have been interviewed and no new decision to remand them in custody has been formally adopted.

Judge Kresimir Devcic claims that under his January decision, the suspects can be held in custody until March 21. He said a decision would be issued tomorrow with the reasons for the detention. The defence may appeal the decision.

In late October, USKOK launched an investigation into persons arrested in an operation codenamed Menadzer on suspicion that they had formed a criminal gang which had abused office and tried, through various transactions, to unlawfully gain a majority stake in Podravka with the company's own money. They are suspected of defrauding the Koprivnica-based food maker of more than HRK 250 million (about EUR 34.2 million). According to USKOK, the criminal gang was organised by Marinac and Horvat.

The other three suspects in the case are Podravka management board chairman Zdravko Sestak, board member Josip Pavlovic, and the director of the Split-based company SMS, Srdjan Mladinic. They have been in custody since late October.