The panel of the Zagreb County Court has confirmed the indictment against former Agrokor owner Ivica Todorić and auditor Olivio Discordia, the Novi list reports. Prosecutors accuse them of fraud that caused the group a loss of nearly 180 million euros.
No special appeal is permitted against the panel’s decision, so the next step is the appointment of the judge who will preside over the main hearing and the scheduling of its start. Court sources indicate that proceedings against Discordia, due to his poor health, could be separated and temporarily suspended. In that case, only Todorić would remain in the dock.
The decision came after former Agrokor auditor Sanja Hrstić admitted guilt on Thursday. She was conditionally sentenced to nine months in prison, with a four-year probation period and 10,000 euros in court costs. The verdict for aiding in the abuse of trust in business operations and forging documents became final immediately.
This is the third version of the indictment in the Agrokor case. The Zagreb County State Attorney’s Office brought it in July last year against six defendants, after key financial expert testimony was previously declared illegal and a new one was prepared. Originally, 15 people were indicted, and the damage in the previous indictment amounted to more than 1.2 billion kuna. The prosecution dropped charges against nine previously indicted individuals due to lack of evidence.
According to the indictment, Todorić and former board member Tomislav Lučić colluded between 2006 and mid-2016 to falsely portray Agrokor’s financial position. Prosecutors claim they thereby paid themselves and affiliated companies dividends to which they were not entitled. Between 2013 and 2017, Todorić was paid more than 100 million euros from Agrokor’s accounts to buy back shares from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. All of this, according to the indictment, was done without decisions from supervisory bodies and without any real intention of repaying the money.
Lučić, along with former directors Alojzije Pandžić and Marijan Alagušić, admitted guilt as early as October. Lučić was conditionally sentenced to 11 months in prison and fined 50,000 euros, while Pandžić and Alagušić received conditional sentences of nine months each.
