The Office of Prosecutor in Klagenfurt sent a request to the Austrian state court in the end of the last week regarding a request for an investigation into bank accounts of Vladimir Zagorec on suspicion that he had laundered great amounts of money in the Hypo Alpe Adria bank, the spokeswoman Carmen Riesinger said.
"Upon the completion of the investigation we shall notify the Office of the Croatian Chief State Prosecutor that has requested us for international legal assistance," she said.
The ongoing investigative proceedings will take a few weeks.
Riesinger explained that they would investigate "business operations of Zagorec and his partners in the Hypo Alpe Adria bank, the headquarters of which are in Klagenfurt, and some other financial institutions."
She, however, declined to say exactly which institutions were under investigations.
Zagorec's partners used to be employed in the Hypo Alpe Adria Group, but they do not work there any more, she added.
According to the Austrian news weekly Profil, a former chairman of the managing board of the Hypo Alpe Adria bank, Guenter Striedinger, is seen as Zagorec's partner who may have been involved in money laundering and other projects of Zagorec.
After the weekly published this report in its on-line issue on Sunday, the Hypo Group Alpe Adria immediately dismissed accusations about its business connections with Zagorec in his murky dealings including money laundering.
According to a press release issued on Sunday evening in Klagenfurt, the bank says that the business cooperation with Zagorec began in 2004, which can be proved, and that it has never been involved in any transaction with means and funds of the Croatian state or with funds stemming from the war.
Zagorec, who has been living in Austria for several years, was arrested in Vienna in mid-March following an international warrant for his arrest issued by Croatia that is insisting on his extradition.
In Zagreb, court proceedings have been launched against Zagorec on suspicion of white collar crimes, including his 2000 taking of jewelry from a Defence Ministry safe when he was leaving the post. The precious stones are believed to have been worth five million U.S. dollars.