Apart from Macek, the Split County Office of the State Prosecutor also charged a former chairman of the company's managing board, Goran Vukasovic, and a member of the managing board, Ante Luetic, with abuse of office and in concluding detrimental contracts for this state-run shipyard while making business deals with the German Wesels company. The three are charged with having embezzled 4.7 million dollars and laundered this amount through bank accounts they opened in Austria in the names of several persons.
Vukasovic and Luetic were relieved of their duties on the managing board in late February over this scandal.
The investigating judge said that Macek had denied all the charges during today's questioning.
The other two suspects, Vukasovic and Luetic, and eight witnesses are to be questioned on Tuesday. After that Judge Cambi will decide whether there are reasonable grounds to open an investigation and detain suspects in custody.
The prosecution asked that the ongoing proceedings be declared secret, and the investigating judge will decide on the request also on Tuesday.
Another hearing in the separate case of white collar crime in Brodosplit was also held in Split today.
County Court investigating judge Slavko Lozina questioned Predrag Cudina, who used to be chairman of the shipyard's managing board until 2005, over allegations that he and another former three members of the management had embezzled at least 37 million dollars from the company.
After the questioning Cudina told reporters that he had denied all the charges at the hearing.
Apart from Cudina, the other suspects in this case - Goran Cvitanic, Milan Senjanovic and Frane Donadini - will be questioned in the coming days.