NO ILLEGALITIES DETECTED IN PURCHASE OF VECERNJI LIST DAILY

ZAGREB, Jan 26 (Hina) - An investigation failed to confirm suspicions of money laundering or any other criminal act in the purchase of Vecernji list daily, and there is no ground to launch criminal proceedings in connection with the purchase of the daily's stocks. The results of the probe offer no basis for suspicion that the funds used to purchase the state's highest circulation newspaper came from illegal sources, the State Prosecutor's Office said in a note forwarded to parliament on Friday. The finance police, however, checked the transactions in the purchase and discovered illegalities in connection with an Autocentar Zubak earmarked loan which was used to pay the stocks, said the note. A criminal charge was filed with the Finance Ministry's Foreign Exchange Inspection "against the accountable person at Autocentar Zubak." Based on expert opinion, the State Prosecutor's Office established that Vecernji list was sold at a realistic price after a parliamentary commission of inquiry, established last March, said it suspected that Vecernji might have been sold at an inadequate price. The State Prosecutor's Office rejected other commission assumptions as well, for instance the one on the involvement of senior state officials in the purchase of the daily. (hina) ha sb