DORH: Croatian, not European, prosecutors are responsible for the Beroš case
Due to the case of the detained former Croatian Minister of Health, a dispute between the USKOK and the EPPO broke out regarding jurisdiction
Croatian Chief State Prosecutor Ivan Turudić decided today that Croatian prosecutors, and not the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO), are responsible for the corruption case related to the detained former Minister of Health and Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) official Vili Beroš.
The announcement of the Croatian State Prosecutor's Office (DORH) states that the investigation will be continued by the Croatian Office for the Fight against Corruption and Organized Crime (USKOK).
Today, the EPPO briefly commented on Turudić's decision, telling N1 television that they are familiar with it, that they will study it and "communicate in due course".
Because of the Beroš et al. case, a dispute over jurisdiction between USKOK and EPPO broke out.
On Friday, the police arrested the current Minister of Health Vili Beroš, the head of the Zagreb KBC Neurology Clinic Sestre milosrdnica and a member of the board of a Zagreb polyclinic, Krešimir Rotim, and entrepreneur Saša Pozder, and USKOK announced that the action was being carried out on their orders.
Soon, however, the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) in Croatia announced that the EPPO had launched an investigation against eight persons, including the Minister of Health and the responsible persons of two Zagreb hospitals, as well as two legal entities due to the existence of reasonable suspicion that they had committed criminal acts of receiving and bribery, abuse of position and authority, and money laundering.
Croatian media announced that the prime suspect in the EPPO investigation is the controversial businessman Hrvoje Petrač and two of his sons, and of the three, only one of Petrač's sons is available to the Croatian judiciary.
Unlike the EPPO, in the case against the minister and the others, the Croatian investigators do not cite Petrače, while in the meantime they charge the dismissed minister of health with influence peddling, and not, like European investigators, with accepting bribes.
On Saturday, the investigative judge of the Zagreb County Court sentenced most of the suspects to a one-month pretrial detention, and acted in separate proceedings on the order of the USKOK and on the order of the EPPO.
In both cases, Beroš and the others are suspected of corruption in the procurement of overpaid medical devices for hospitals.
The EPPO announced that it suspects that Beroš, in exchange for the bribe he received, approved the purchase of operating microscopes at unreasonably inflated prices, while providing funds for financing public procurement. In this way, damage of around 620.000 euros was caused.
USKOK, on the other hand, announced that Beroš, Rotim and Pozder joined forces to market and sell medical devices from an Austrian manufacturer to state-owned hospitals.
Croatian investigators suspect that Pozder's company received benefits of almost half a million euros. On the other hand, EPPO suspects that Hrvoje Petrač is behind Pozder's company.
On Friday, the Croatian State Prosecutor's Office asked the EPPO for the urgent delivery of reports and case files, and the EPPO asked the DORH to hand over the case.
( Beta )