Croatia tycoon Todoric acquitted in one trial, more pending

ZAGREB, Croatia – A Croatian court on Wednesday acquitted the country’s best-known tycoon in one of the cases related to the collapse of a retail company that has shaken the Balkan region.

The County Court in the capital, Zagreb, on Wednesday ruled that Ivica Todoric and three others were not guilty of charges that they syphoned 1.25 million euros ($1.47 million) from the firm Agrokor.

The court ruled that there was not enough evidence to prove that the group in 2013 made a fictitious deal between Agrokor and a Swiss-based consultancy. The prosecutors said they would appeal.

Todoric has been accused of mismanaging Agrokor and embezzling millions. He was arrested in London in 2017 and extradited to Croatia.

More proceedings against Todoric are pending. He has pleaded not guilty, claiming charges against him were politically motivated.

“The prosecutors have filed a monstrous false indictment,” he said after the ruling. “I am fighting to expose corruption and I have documentation.”

Agrokor had focused on food retailing throughout the Balkans and had thousands of workers before it collapsed under high debt.