Darko Horvat (BETAPHOTO/HINA/Lana SLIVAR DOMINIC/DS)
An investigative judge of the Zagreb District Court decided on Feb. 19 to remand in custody Croatia’s dismissed minister of construction, Darko Horvat, who will be held in police custody for a month to prevent witness tampering, according to a statement issued in the Croatian capital.
Horvat is suspected of abusing his ministerial post in 2018, when his assistant, Ana Mandac and he, abetted by four other suspects, illegally distributed grants worth millions. Horvat was arrested on Feb. 19. Prime Minister Andrija Plenkovic dismissed him as the minister of spatial planning, construction and state assets that same day, at his request.
The Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organized Crime requested that 11 witnesses be heard during the investigation, including, according to the local media, mostly employees of the Ministry for Regional Development and EU Funds.
Acting as Croatia’s minister of economy and entrepreneurship late in 2018, Horvat is suspected of handing out grants worth HRK2.6 million to enterprises he had a personal interest in, or those for which he was asked to do this for either directly by the other suspects, or indirectly, through his assistant.
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