Austria's anti-crime office told APA that it was in contact with the Croatian authorities because the Croatian investigation covered Austrian companies Strabag and Alpina as well as a Prague company with accounts in Raiffeisen Bank in Austria. obsessing
Croatia's anti-corruption office USKOK contends that HAC was defrauded of HRK 38 million because construction companies which were later hired by HAC made deposits to the Czech company Remorker. APA claims those companies paid for fictitious consulting services.
Citing sources close to the investigation, Croatian media reported that Strabag paid HRK 4.6 million and the Macedonian company Granit Skopje HRK 2.6 million.
Strabag's premises were searched and the company told APA it did not know that its employees had acted unlawfully. The company's spokeswoman said no Strabag associate was under suspicion.
The construction companies which made the deposits were allegedly guaranteed jobs and timely payments. They received the money back because construction costs were raised up to 25 per cent.
The media said there was a model which HAC used to pay the construction companies premiums or compensation for jobs that were never performed but were allegedly completed before deadline. Osijek Koteks, a subsidiary of Alpina, allegedly received HRK 12 million for the fictitious construction of a road.
Investigators claim about HRK 30 million was deposited in Remorker's Austrian bank accounts between 2006 and 2011. The company's owner, Igor Premilovac, has admitted to withdrawing the money in cash and taking it to Croatia.
He has been arrested alongside many former HAC employees, associates of former Croatian Transport Minister Bozidar Kalmeta, and the heads of the Zagreb Tehnobeton and Vijadukt construction companies.
Premilovac allegedly operated in the same way with the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK), which was allegedly defrauded of HRK 32 million via Remorker. Former HGK president Nadan Vidosevic was recently arrested on suspicion that he masterminded a group that siphoned the money.
(EUR 1 = HRK 7.6)